“Three citizens of Ukraine were detained during the seizure of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader in November 2023”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Currently, three Ukrainians are safe and under the care of Ukrainian diplomats, they are in good physical condition and have all the necessary documents. Soon they will return to Ukraine,” the ministry’s press service reports.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed “special gratitude” to the Sultanate of Oman, in particular to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman, for paying attention to the fate of the three Ukrainians and facilitating their release from captivity.
The day before, the pro-Iranian group “Ansar Allah”, which controls part of the territory of Yemen, announced the release of the sailors of the Galaxy Leader vessel captured in November 2023. According to a statement by the group, also known as the Houthis (after their leader al-Houthi), the 25 crew members of the ship were released with the mediation of Oman. Among them are citizens of Ukraine, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania and Mexico.
The Houthis seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea shortly after announcing that they would seize or sink ships linked to Israel or ships bound for Israel in support of the Hamas group (designated as a terrorist organization by the US and the EU). The Houthis claimed that the Bahamian-flagged Galaxy Leader was linked to Israeli billionaire Abraham Ungar. The ship was captured after landing using a helicopter.