Ukrainian sailor sinks €7m Russian yacht

The Russian/Ukrainian conflict has reached the Balearic Islands. A Ukrainian sailor was arrested this morning in Mallorca on charges of having sunk the luxury yacht of a well-known Russian billionaire moored in Port Adriano, the main marina of the Spanish archipelago’s largest island. The sunken Russian yacht is the Lady Anastasia, owned by Alexander Mijeev and worth around €7 million (see photos).

Mijeev is also an oligarch active in the arms market: after having been at the top of the Russian Helicopter Corporation, a company that produces war helicopters, in 2016 he was appointed CEO of Rosoboronexport, a state-owned company that sells armaments on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s state. These would be the very reasons for the Ukrainian sailor’s gesture, who once brought before the judge claimed to have carried out his act in revenge following Moscow’s military attack on Kiev. “One of his missiles destroyed a building in Kiev, I couldn’t stand by and watch,” the man reportedly said in court, according to news agencies. “The owner of this yacht is a criminal who makes a living selling weapons that are now killing Ukrainians.”

The Ukrainian sailor, whose identity was not disclosed, pleaded guilty before the judge and recounted the exact sequence of his actions. To be precise, the man stated that he had boarded the vessel and first opened a large valve in the engine room and then another smaller valve in the crew accommodation compartment. The sailor then took the precaution of closing the fuel valves and turning off the electricity in order to avoid the risk of fire, and finally invited all persons on board to leave the ship. It is not yet clear whether the sailor was actually a crew member of the sunken Russian yacht.

Despite the immediate intervention of the harbour staff, who tried as much as possible to save the vessel, the ship half sank and suffered extensive damage. However, at the moment the judge decided not to validate the arrest and to release the offender, pending the trial. Once released by the Guardia Civil, the sailor announced his intention to travel to Ukraine to join the nationalists against the Russian forces.