President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commends the return of six Ukrainian citizens - crew members of Curacao Trader ship who were liberated from pirate captivity on August 20.
"Our sailors spent more than a month in pirate captivity, but finally returned to Ukraine and will soon meet with their families. I would like to thank our diplomats, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who have held difficult negotiations on the release of captives. We kept the situation under control all the time. Ukrainians should know that every citizen is important for our state," the President said.
The Head of State especially noted the proactive work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose employees were constantly in touch and professionally supported the negotiation process for the release of Ukrainian sailors.
It bears reminding that on July 17, pirates attacked Curacao Trader tanker, which was near the shore of Benin, and captured 13 crew members, including Ukrainians. On August 20, the sailors were liberated from captivity, and on August 24, the Nigerian military transferred the released Ukrainian citizens to the representatives of the Ukrainian embassy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.