Russia releases video of Sukru Okan boarding
Written by Nick Blenkey
Sukru Okan crew was forced to its knees at gunpoint by Russians
Perhaps stung by social media posts saying that its boarding of the Turkish-owned cargo ship Sukru Okan was fake news, or even involved a different ship, the Russian Ministry of Defense has now released its own video of the boarding.
You can draw your own conclusions on how the boarding, which took place in international waters, was conducted, with crew members forced on their knees at gunpoint.
Something that emerges is that the boarding was more consistent with the CNN report of the incident that we noted yesterday than with the initial Russian state-controlled media version, with the Sukru Okan‘s Turkish crew keeping right on sailing until forced to shut the engines down.
What remains to be seen is the extent to which the Sukru Okan boarding is part of a mounting effort by Russia to shut down Ukrainian grain exports via the Danube and Romanian ports. Already Russia has launched missile attacks on Ukraine’s own Danube ports.
Is it now trying to intimidate ships from calling Romanian ports?
