Mikhail Voitenko fled to Istanbul after receiving a menacing telephone call over his report hinting the ship may have been carrying a secret shipment of we
A journalist who broke the story of a Russian cargo ship apparently hijacked by pirates announced he had fled Russia, fearing for his life.
Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the online maritime bulletin Sovfracht, said he had left the country after receiving a menacing late-night phone call. Voitenko said an unidentified man called him on Tuesday night and warned him he was “stepping on the heels of some serious people.”
PHOTO: EPA
Speaking by telephone from Istanbul, where he is in hiding, Voitenko said he was bluntly informed that these “guys are out for revenge. I was told: ‘They are very unhappy with you. But they don’t want unpleasantness.’”
Voitenko said the man urged him to leave Russia.
He said he intended to stay out of the country until “things calmed down.”
Voitenko was the first person to report on the disappearance of the Arctic Sea, which mysteriously vanished after passing through the Channel on July 28, carrying a £1.1 million (US$1.8 million) cargo of Finnish timber.
Russia says hijackers seized the ship four days earlier in international waters near Sweden and that its navy recovered the boat on Aug. 17 in the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa.
Russia has charged eight people, mostly Estonians, with kidnapping and piracy. The story has dominated the Russian press, which has identified most of the kidnappers as ethnic Russians and has called in experts to identify the men from their tattoos.
Voitenko, however, has repeatedly cast doubt on the official version of events. The main source of information on the hijacking in the early days of the crisis, he has hinted that the ship may have been carrying a secret shipment of weapons, or, he suggested, “something much more expensive and dangerous.”
Sounding distinctly frightened, Voitenko said on Thursday he did not know the identity of his mystery caller. But he hinted that the man who spoke with a “chilling voice” may have represented the FSB, Russia’s powerful and secretive post-KGB spy agency. He also said that Russia was “deliberately covering up this mystery.”
Asked what was really hidden on board the Arctic Sea, he replied cryptically: “Half of those involved in this were private individuals. But half were linked with the state.”
Russia has for years endured chronic problems with criminal groups, some with murky links to the state, smuggling military and mineral wealth to lucrative markets overseas. From oil to missile components, Kalashnikovs to aircraft, the value of contraband disappearing across eastern and western borders is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Bribable officials and porous borders mean smugglers can often operate with impunity, though several high profile cases have been uncovered in recent months.
All 15 Russian sailors involved in the Arctic Sea drama were released unharmed. So far, however, they have failed to give a convincing account of what happened, with even Russia’s investigative committee head, Alexander Bastrykin, admitting last week that the ship “might have been carrying not only timber.”
Adding further intrigue, Russian chief of general staff, Nikolai Makarov, said the vessel would be searched for a possible secret cargo when it returns to Russia later this month.
Last night Voitenko said the fact the Arctic Sea’s disappearance has grown into an international scandal was hardly surprising.
“This isn’t a usual situation. You don’t normally get attacks on ships on the Baltic coast,” he said.apons
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