"We are at home and very much looking forward to our captain": a sailor of the vessel Nord, arrested by Ukraine, told RT about his release

The Kerch fishing vessel "Nord" was detained by Ukrainian border guards in the Sea of ​​Azov on March 25. Five days later, the court arrested the vessel, took the passports from the crew, thus making it impossible for them to even go ashore.

Meanwhile, the captain of the vessel, Vladimir Gorbenko, was first detained for an administrative offense - illegal fishing - and then charged with illegally crossing the state border and placed in the detention center of the city of Kherson. From there, the captain was able to go on bail and get documents allowing him to move around the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions. Only after that he was able to go to his relatives in the Dnieper (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), in order to finally receive medical assistance - Gorbenko started having heart problems and pressure because of the stress suffered.

Thanks to the efforts of lawyers, two crew members were able to return to the Crimea first. Koku and the sailor had to fly to the peninsula through Minsk and Moscow.

On October 30, seven members of the crew of the arrested trawler were exchanged for as many Ukrainian sailors from the trawlers YAMK-0041 and YaOD-2105, detained for illegal fishing in the economic zones of the Russian Federation.

However, the Ukrainian authorities did not return passports to the people. The fate of Vladimir Gorbenko, the captain of the “Nord”, remains in question. All crew members demand his return from the territory of Ukraine, where the man continues to be by the decision of the Ukrainian investigators.

The correspondent of RT spoke with the sailor of the ship Pavel Chmykhalov. When the Ukrainian border guards took the captain, Pavel stayed aboard "for the eldest."

- Tell us how you survived on the arrested vessel?

- With the products on the fourth day it became very bad. Until the hold was sealed, we had to get a sprat, after which we, in fact, went out to sea, it is. Cook from sprat, catch gobies. And what was left to do? Ukrainian fishermen tried to pass bags of bread, tea, sugar. They are not allowed to do this by the border guards. We drank technical water - the one for washing, for washing dishes. Bottled water is over by that time. The need was done from the deck, there was nowhere else to go.

- Who helped you in the days of arrest and the courts?

- Embassy and lawyers. Lawyers provided the Republican Council. Shcherbina Dmitry and Rudenko Alexander. I am very grateful to them. These are people of honor, people of conscience. The lawyers, in addition to us, also had our captain, who first sat in the SIZO, then they pledged for him, but the courts continued. Lawyers for any request came, came. Provided and legal assistance, brought food and clothing.

When part of the authority was taken over by our embassy, ​​it was easier for the lawyers. Many thanks to Sergey Aksyonov (head of the republic of Crimea) for the defenders. For the surgical intervention that he was able to send them to us quickly. And many thanks to our diplomats for their help with housing, with documents. When we arrived in Kiev, we were accommodated at the embassy of the Russian Federation. And from that time — from April to the very liberation — our crew lived there.

- How did you know that you will be free soon?

- We went to bed, and at half past five in the morning they raised us, as if by alarm, they said: guys, everything, we are going, the bus is coming, we have gone. They understood only when the Ombudsman in Ukraine approached us and said: "Guys, there will be an exchange, you will be seven, seven on the other side, we will change." We did not know until the last, that they exchange us. We were told that perhaps in the coming days we will be able to send again to cross the border. The fact that there will be an exchange, we did not know. Our families did not know anything. Everyone was completely unaware.

- Remember your feelings at the time of the exchange?

- We were afraid until the very end of some provocations. When we went, the phones were turned off, everything was turned off. They were afraid. You had to see it in order to understand. Other than that, no feelings, no ... You know, there were three attempts to cross the border before that. And all unsuccessful. Therefore, in the fact that this time we cross the border, we believed 50 to 50. Because no one believed in a miracle. Even when we passed the border, the exchange took place, already said goodbye, got on the bus ... I could not believe until the last, until we set foot on our Russian land. And now I can not believe, to be honest.

- How did your family find out about the release? Tell us about your meeting.

- When we landed, we began to interview journalists. They gave me a phone, someone says: "Let me type, who should I dial?" I say: "To my wife." She picks up the phone and I say to her: “Baby, I'm home!”. She replied: "What is it like? Understood nothing. What's the number?". I say: “Everything, we are at home. In Armyansk. In Crimea!"

I arrived home at about eleven in the evening. Children did not sleep, there was no time for sleep. Ran to me, of course.

The youngest is six, the oldest is ten. The next day, it turns out, I was still resting, my wife took the children to kindergarten and school. The eldest comes, says: "Dad, I thought it was a dream." Yesterday he took the small one from the kindergarten in the evening, so he jumps into his arms ... Until now, no one believes, I say, no one still believes that we are at home. At home you walk like a restless one. Because it is already so lost faith, as they say. Although they were ready to sit for a year or two, if only they would not go on Ukrainian provocations.

- What will you do after release?

- The main thing for the whole crew is that we will wait for the captain. He is still in Ukraine. The captain will come - God willing, will return or help, there will be another vessel. Ukrainians consider “Nord” their own. Let's go to the sea, of course, but where? We all life in the sea. All life. I cannot look at my children calmly, because I know that the captain has two daughters, a son, who also have not seen their father for more than seven months! Our captain will come - we will all meet, the families will be reunited completely, then we will already think. For now, we will learn to believe that this has happened. We're home!