A Ukrainian sailor has admitted trying to sink a yacht owned by the head of a Russian state arms firm in retaliation to the invasion of Ukraine.
The 48m (157ft) Lady Anastasia, which belongs to Rosoboronexport director general, Alexander Mikheev, was docked in Majorca in Spain when the mechanic opened valves in its engine room.
He was arrested by Civil Guard officers on Saturday and later released on bail.
He told a judge that he regretted nothing and would do it again.
The man said he tried to scuttle Mr Mikheev’s yacht after watching news reports from Ukraine on the television,
“There was a video of a helicopter attack on a building in Kyiv,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
“They were attacking innocents.”
On Saturday, a high-rise apartment building near Kyiv’s Zhuliany airport was hit by a missile, leaving a hole covering at least five floors.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Mikheev or Rosoboronexport, which exports Russian defence products, including tanks, fighting vehicles, aircraft, ships, weapons and ammunition.
By air, land, and sea, Russia has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, a European democracy of 44 million people, and its forces are on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.
For months, President Vladimir Putin denied he would invade his neighbour, but then he tore up a peace deal, sending forces across borders in Ukraine’s north, east and south.
As the number of dead climbs, he stands accused for shattering peace in Europe. What happens next could jeopardise the continent’s entire security structure.
Russian troops are closing in on Ukraine’s capital, days after Russia’s leader ordered a full-scale invasion from the north, east and south. In a pre-dawn TV address on February24, he declared Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine.
Airports and military headquarters were hit first then tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine from Russia, Russian-annexed Crimea and ally Belarus.
Many of President Putin’s arguments were false or irrational. He claimed his goal was to protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aimed for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. There has been no genocide in Ukraine: it is a vibrant democracy led by a president who is Jewish. -BBC
