President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently commended the release of the 14 Ukrainian seafarers of Ruta tanker, which were arrested off Libya back in 2017.
In fact, the Ukrainian crewmembers were detained in Libya on charges of involvement in the smuggling of petroleum products.
Due to the complicated domestic political and security situation in this country, the consideration of the case of Ukrainians by the Libyan courts has not been completed for a long time.
Consequently, the crew spent more than 3 years at jail in Libya.
In light of the situation, Ukrainian authorities arranged a special flight for the crewmembers’ repatriation which landed at Boryspil International Airport.
Our task is to return Ukrainian citizens. I am very glad that after almost three and a half years behind bars in Libya, 14 members of the crew of the Ruta tanker returned home. I am happy for them, for their families.
….Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked.
Concluding, the President thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, and all the participants who joined their forces for the repatriation process.
