A representative of the crew of a yacht with Russian athletes detained by the DPRK said that the actions of North Korean representatives posed a threat to life. According to him, the yachtsmen were confused with “Korean spies”

Russian yacht “Elfin” (Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

The detention of a yacht with Russian athletes, which was carried out by the DPRK, was accompanied by a “threat to life,” senior mate of the yacht captain Sergei Domovidov told reporters, Interfax reports .

“We walked approximately 90 miles from the coast, even blocking not only territorial waters, but also economic zones in accordance with all regulations. Another ship approached us from the stern. We had to stop our progress because they started pushing the boat against us. On board the ship, in Russian, they demanded that the captain of the yacht be handed over to them and that they secure their position. There was a specific threat to life,” he said, adding that the “fight” at sea lasted approximately 1.5–2 hours.

The Russians tried to escape from the North Korean representatives, but the speed of their ship was twice as high, and a speedboat also joined in the detention, Domovidov noted. “They caught up with us. Stones, debris, and bottles fell from the boat onto our heads. They began to board our yacht: they dented the roof rails, racks, and bulwarks. They hit me specifically in the body,” he said. Several people, he said, jumped onto the Russian yacht, after which a brawl broke out.

Crew members of the Russian yacht "Elfin" (Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

Domovidov emphasized that the Russians did not violate anything. “At first no one said anything, then they said there was a mistake, that they were confused with Korean spies,” he said (quoted by TASS ).

The yachtsman expressed uncertainty that it was the DPRK that carried out the detention - according to him, there was no identification mark on the ship. “I don’t know what the DPRK border guards look like, they are all in some kind of uniform - both military and non-civilian. But they didn't look like normal military men. There was just some kind of aggressive crowd. About 40 people,” he said, emphasizing that the ship was rusty.

The yacht was detained on May 13, and two days later the DPRK authorities decided to release it . On the same day she left for Russia, and on Tuesday she arrived in Vladivostok . It was initially reported that the detention was carried out by the DPRK coast guard, but North Korea, according to the Russian Consul General in the city of Chongdin, Yuri Bochkarev, reported that it was done by fishermen. Representatives of the DPRK told him that “the detention of the yacht occurred by mistake.” At the same time, as Denis Samsonov, press attache of the Russian Embassy in the DPRK, said, Moscow is still waiting for an official explanation for the detention of the yacht.

Russians detained by North Korea told details of the incident