Fiona Govan
A UKRAINIAN sailor has been arrested for attempting to sink a €7million superyacht owned by a Russian arms dealer tycoon and moored in Port Adriano in Spain’s Mallorca.
Named the Lady Anastasia, the superyacht of 47metres with five cabins belongs to Alexander Mijeev, a close associate of Vladimir Putin and head of one of the largest Russian weapons production companies.
“My boss is a criminal who sells weapons that kills the Ukrainian people,” explained the 55-year-old named as D.Taras O in a court statement on Saturday.
The 55-year-old who worked on the yacht as a mechanic surrendered to Guardia Civil after his ‘act of sabotage’ explaining he had been moved to carry it out after watching footage of Kyiv being bombed on the news.
“During my break on Saturday, I watched the news about the war. There was a video of a helicopter attack on a building in Kiev. The armaments used are produced by the ship owner’s company. They were attacking innocents,” he said in a statement read out in court.
A few hours later he decided to “take revenge on the owner by causing only material damage , not personal damage”.
He explained how he opened valves to allow the boat to take on water and told the crew, most of whom were also Ukrainian, to abandon the vessel.
The yacht was only partially submerged and is salvageable, according to local reports.
The Ukrainian added that he planned to return home to Kiev to defend his homeland against the Russian invasion. “Today was my first battle,” he said when leaving the court.
The video below shows the opulence of the superyacht. Lady Anastasia.
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Arrested? Seems to me that a Medal of Honour would be more appropriate!