By Roman Zakaluzny
Post Staff Writer
Ukrainian sailors, not traditionally known as an unruly lot, are continuing to get into trouble around the world for a variety of alleged transgressions.
Five Ukrainian citizens were among the six sailors arrested Jan. 19 near Greece�s southwestern Peloponnese islands for allegedly helping command a boatful of illegal migrants, Athens News Agency reported.
They are to be charged with people-smuggling on Jan. 25 in the town of Pylos.
The captain of the boat in question, the Rex, which flew under the North Korean flag, was a Georgian.
The sailors, whose names were undisclosed when the Post went to print, have been in touch with a representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in Greece, Interfax-Ukraine reported. According to ministry press spokesperson Markian Lubkivsky, all are reportedly in good health and have reported no mistreatment.
The Greek coast guard found 77 illegal migrants on board the Rex. They were of Egyptian, Indian and Pakistani origin.
On Dec. 25, the crew of the Elizabeth, another boat flying a North Korean flag and manned by Ukrainians, was detained after being plucked out of the sea by helicopter when it ran into stormy weather near the Greek island of Santorini.
The captain and seven crewmembers, all Ukrainian, were arrested when Greek authorities examined the cargo of the damaged ship.
Greek officials said they found more than one million packs of British cigarettes on board, allegedly bound for Montenegro. The crew had declared a cargo of cement.
And in Iraq, the captain and first mate of the Navstar-1 are still waiting to hear when an Iraqi court will hear their appeals.
Capt. Mykola Mazurenko and First Mate Ivan Soschenko, both of Kerch, received seven-year sentences for illegally transporting diesel in the Persian Gulf.
The men were arrested in August, along with 19 other Ukrainians, by British authorities. They were handed over to the American administration in Iraq, and convicted in October of smuggling 3,500 tons of fuel.
Their lawyer, Talib al-Zubaidi, will find out on Jan. 22 when their appeals will be heard, and said he was optimistic for a better future for the two men.
�For Soschenko, I am certain he will be free. One hundred percent,� al-Zubaidi told the Post from Baghdad. �For Mazurenko, maybe he will be free, maybe he will get a reduced sentence.�
Mazurenko, 67 years old and suffering from type 2 diabetes, and Soschenko, 47, must also come up with $2.5 million in fines or risk an additional three years in jail, as stipulated by their initial sentences.