Angered by the ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine, a Ukrainian sailor executed his own version of justice over the weekend, by attempting to sink a Russian tycoon’s superyacht.
Identified in local reports as D. Taras O., he was the chief engineer of superyacht Lady Anastasia. He 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.
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The sailor believed that the missile he saw in the video was manufactured by a company owned by Alexander Mikheev, his boss and the owner of the Lady Anastasia super-yacht he worked on. 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, he 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,” he told civil guards who arrived at the scene to arrest him.
Mikheev is the CEO of Rosoboronexport, a Russian state-owned military weapons supplier and one of the biggest players in the international arms market. Previously, Mikheev helmed Russian Helicopters, which produces both civilian and military helicopters.
Priced at 7 million euros ($7.8 million), the Lady Anastasia was built in 2001 and the 48-meter-long luxury yacht can house up to 10 guests across five cabins.
In court, the sailor said that he only wanted to cause “material damage” as an act of revenge, but not any personal harm to the owner.
“They were attacking innocents,” he told the judge when brought to court. “I don’t regret anything I’ve done and I would do it again.”
The sailor was released on Sunday, and it remains unclear what he has been charged with.
