Kremlin Declines To Comment On Return Of Crimea's Missing Nord Ship Captain From Ukraine

Fakhir Rizvi Published February 11, 2019 | 03:58 PM

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the return to Crimea of the captain of Russian fishing vessel Nord, Vladimir Gorbenko, who was in Ukrainian custody since last year and was reported missing in January, adding that the fact that he was now at home was the only thing that mattered

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2019) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the return to Crimea of the captain of Russian fishing vessel Nord, Vladimir Gorbenko, who was in Ukrainian custody since last year and was reported missing in January, adding that the fact that he was now at home was the only thing that mattered.

Earlier on Monday, the sailor's mother, Evgenia Gorbenko, told Sputnik that her son returned to Crimea on Saturday. Gorbenko, on his part, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, which covers news on Crimea, that he had returned to Russia using a Russian passport. He also mentioned that the Ukrainian authorities had offered him to confess his guilt, without taking legal action, receive a Ukrainian passport and use it to return home.

"I will not comment on this, the main thing is that he is at home, the main thing is that he is in Crimea.

This is the most important thing," Peskov told reporters on Monday, when asked how the Kremlin evaluates the work of the security services facilitating Gorbenko's return.

He added that other details were only "nuances," which we might learn over time, or not, stating that "the result speaks for itself."

On March 25, the Ukrainian Border Guard Service detained Russia-flagged Nord and its 10-person crew in the Sea of Azov. In early April, Gorbenko was arrested for violating entry and exit procedures but promptly released on bail, only to be put into custody again shortly afterward over poaching charges. The nine other crew members were able to return to Crimea.

Gorbenko was reported missing by the Ukrainian police on February 4, 2019. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, he disappeared on January 26 in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhia region.