Ukrainian Sailor Arrested For Partially Sinking Russian Boss’ $7.8 Million Yacht, Says He ‘Regrets Nothing’

Angered by the ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine, a Ukrainian sailor has been arrested for executing his own version of justice over the weekend, by attempting to sink a Russian tycoon’s 156ft luxury yacht.

The yacht, named Lady Anastasia, is a 156-foot-long boat with five cabins worth €7 million ($7.8 million) and is owned by Alexander Mijeev, a former head of Russian Helicopter Corporation.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a 55-year-old Ukrainian sailor identified in local reports as Taras Ostapchuk, tried to submerge the vessel at Pord Adriano in Majorca.

The sailor, who was the chief engineer of Lady Anastasia for about 10 years, was said to have watched a video on Saturday which showed a Russian cruise missile as having struck a residential building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Ostapchuk believed that the missile he saw in the video was manufactured by a company owned by Mikheev. The 55-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands at Port Adriano, a marina on the Spanish island of Mallorca that’s known for housing boats of the ultrarich.

The sailor opened a large valve in the engine room and then another in the crew members’ quarters. He also closed the fuel valves to prevent pollutive leaks and switched off the electricity. Then, he told crew members to abandon ship.

When the Ukrainian sailor instructed his fellow crew members to evacuate the Lady Anastasia, Ostapchuk was told that he was crazy, he said in a statement made in court on Sunday.

In response, he reminded the crew members that they, too, were Ukrainians whose country was under attack, and that he would take full responsibility for the damaged yacht.

Despite the efforts of crew members and other port workers to stop the leakage, the damage had been done and the Lady Anastasia was partially sunk.

“My boss is a criminal who sells weapons that kill the Ukrainian people,” Ostapchuk told civil guards who arrived at the scene to arrest him.

He was later released on charges as he claimed he had no intention of causing harm to life.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been bombarded with explosions and missiles after it was invaded by Russia on Thursday.

More than 300,000 civilians have fled as shells rained down across the country over the weekend – as the battle for the capital, Kyiv, stretched into a fourth day.