Denys Hrytsenko - commander of a group of Ukrainian ships illegally captured by the Russian military in the Kerch Strait, does not plead guilty "to illegal crossing of the Russian Federation's border". Lawyer Nikolai Polozov reported this to Russian Interfax on December 11.
"Today I finally met with Denys Hrytsenko who stated that he did not admit his guilt and did not consider himself a criminal", - the lawyer said.
He noted that when the investigator suggested that his client be interrogated, Hrytsenko "wrote that he considered himself a prisoner of war and refused to give any evidence".
According to the lawyer, Hrytsenko carried out the overall command of the Ukrainian vessels detained in Crimea.
"Denys said that they did not use force on him in the Crimea during the arrest. Also, no force was used by the special forces which convoyed him. There is also no pressure In Moscow, he said, they are respectful", - Nikolai Polozov reported.
As previously reported, in the area of the Kerch Strait on November 25, Russian military attacked the Ukrainian ships using weapons, seized Berdiansk and Nikopol small armored artillery boats and Yany Kapu tugboat, which carried out the transition from the port of Odessa to the port of Mariupol - from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Three Ukrainian soldiers were injured during the capture. On November 27-28, the occupation court of Crimea arrested all Ukrainian sailors for two months. On November 30, Ukrainian sailors were taken to Moscow.