Russian recorded an audio message from a ship seized by Iran

There is a Russian citizen on board the container ship “Aries” under the flag of Portugal, seized the day before by fighters of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz. His last name and initials reported Russian Embassy in Tehran. It says it is in contact with the sailor’s relatives and Iranian authorities “to provide the necessary consular assistance.” The message does not say where the crew is now.

Vladivostok edition of Vl.ru reportedthat the Russian on the hijacked ship is called Timofey Kolchanov, he is 38 years old, he is a senior engineer. Vl.ru and telegram channel Shot also published an audio recording, made by Kolchanov immediately after the seizure of the ship and, apparently, intended for his relatives. He says that machine gunners landed on the ship from a helicopter.

Shot claims that the Russian embassy in Tehran told the sailor’s relatives that he was fine. Subsequently the sailor’s wife told “REN TV” that he was able to call his family and assured that everything was fine with him. The call lasted eight seconds. According to Kolchanov’s wife, she was assured that all crew members were alive and safe, but it was still impossible to contact them.

• IRGC special forces seized a container ship on April 13. After the capture, the ship was sent to Iranian territorial waters. By data The Times of Israel, the container ship is associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Israel accused Iran of state piracy. The seizure occurred several hours before Iran’s massive attack on Israel – as Tehran claims, in response to an Israeli attack on the consulate in Damascus.