Russian sailors claim they were tortured by GNA forces

The plane carrying the foreign nationals to their homeland landed in Russia yesterday after their release, which was facilitated by the Russian non-profit Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Values.

One of the sailors, Bodryaga stated that initially after they had been taken, they were treated well and given necessities such as water, food, clothes and even cigarettes, that it was after they had been moved to the prosecutor’s office that conditions began worsening.

Bodryaga claims that they were kept tied up for hours, unable to move or see anything as they had been blindfolded and unaware of their surroundings regularly.

He also claims they had been tortured but for what he didn’t know, noting that he and his crew members had no idea what the people holding them wanted from them and that no one explained anything.

The sailors were allegedly arrested in Libya for unlawful entry to Libyan waters according to GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala who denied that they had been kidnapped.

Their release was facilitated by Aleksandr Malkevich, Member of the Russian Social Council and head of the Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Values, who claims that there were no legal grounds for taking the sailors.

It is worth noting that the Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Values has been frequently linked to the Wagner mercenary group, a military group that has been accused of supporting Haftar’s forces in the recent offensive on Tripoli.