Mother of Ukrainian Sailor Captured by Russia Recalls November 25 Events

23 July 2019 17:31

During the passage from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol, at the end of November 2018, Roman Mokriak's boat and two other ships were fired at by Russian troops. Hromadske spoke with Mokriak's mother to recall the events of the day.

Before the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Roman Mokriak served on a submarine Zaporizhzhia in Sevastopol. In 2014, he moved to Odesa because Mokriak's family could not accept him continuing service in the occupied peninsula. At one point, his mother suggested he changed the profession, but he firmly decided to serve further. In Odesa, Mokriak served on the missile boat Pryluky, in 2016 he headed the boat Berdyansk. During the passage from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol, at the end of November 2018, his boat and two other ships were fired at by Russian troops.

Three of the wounded Ukrainians, who were subsequently sent to the Kerch Hospital, were on Berdyansk. He and 23 other Ukrainian servicemen are currently in Moscow's Lefortovo remand prison, despite the ruling of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to release Ukrainians immediately. Families are looking forward to welcoming the sailors back home and hope that it will happen soon.

A film about the captured Ukrainian sailors is coming soon on Hromadske.