The Russian court in Crimea convicted the Ukrainian border guards who took part in the detention of the vessel “Nord”

The Russian court in Crimea sentenced two Ukrainian border guards from “Azovstal” — Ivan Tereshchenko and Vasyl Dmytruk — who detained the “Nord” ship in 2018, to 17 years in prison.

This is reported by the Crimean human rights group.

According to the decision of the occupiers, the border guards must spend the first three years in prison, then in a strict regime colony.

Tereshchenko and Dmytruk were captured by the Russians on May 16, 2022, when they left “Azovstal” by order of the commander.

It is known that Tereshchenko was sent first to Olenivka, then to Horlivka, and from there he was transferred to the pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Simferopol. He has been in Crimea since at least August 31, 2023.

Both were charged with kidnapping and hijacking of a vessel.

• Both border guards served on the vessel of the State Border Service of Ukraine, which on March 25, 2018 detained the Russian-flagged Crimean fishing vessel "Nord" in the Azov Sea. Ivan Tereshchenko was a motorman at the time, and Vasyl Dmytruk was the shipʼs captain.
• The Maritime District Court of Mariupol fined the sailors of "Nord" for illegally crossing the border. The shipʼs captain Volodymyr Horbenko was charged with violating the order of entry and exit from the occupied territory and illegal fishing. The ship itself was arrested at the end of March.
• In October 2018, the “Nord” sailors were exchanged for Ukrainian sailors from the Ukrainian vessels YAMK-0041 and YaOD 21-05 detained in Crimea.