MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Two Russian sailors who had remained in captivity said Friday they returned home after being freed from the Merle cargo vessel arrested in northwestern Libya in March.
"We were released on May 4. We spent two months in Libyan prison", they told reporters following talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and thanking Russian diplomats for efforts to secure their release.
The Libyan coast guard detained the Merle, owned by St. Petersburg-based MT Group, off the coast of the western city of Zawia on March 5.
Five of the dry cargo ship's crew members had been released and returned to Russia in late April.