Dilip Kuner
A UKRAINIAN sailor who hit world headlines when he partially sank a €7 million yacht owned by a Russian oligarch has spoken about the incident.
Taras Ostapchuk, 57, was working as a senior mechanic aboard the luxury yacht Lady Anastasia in Mallorca when he decided to sabotage the vessel as a reprisal against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Lady Anastasia was anchored in Port Adriano and Taras had access to its engine room, a key area where he could carry out his plan.
At the time, Taras was deeply troubled by the devastation unfolding in Ukraine. He had seen distressing footage of a Russian missile striking a residential building in Kyiv, which spurred him into action.
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Lady Anastasia was owned by Alexander Mikheev, the CEO of Rosoboronexport, the Russian state-owned defence company responsible for supplying many of the missiles that were causing death and destruction across Ukraine.
“I could no longer sit idly by,” Taras explained in an interview with Armyinform. “I saw my people, my family, being killed by missiles produced by Mikheev’s company. I had to act, even if it was just a small act of retaliation.”
The mechanic knew the yacht well and had access to the engine room 24/7, making it easier for him to carry out the sabotage.
On the night of 26 February 2022, Taras opened a sea valve in the engine room, deliberately flooding the vessel.
Water quickly began to pour in through the valve, but the damage was not as catastrophic as he had hoped.
The plan was thwarted by three other Ukrainian crew members. Alarmed by the sudden flooding and fearing the loss of their jobs, they confronted Taras and alerted the local authorities.
“I didn’t expect them to intervene,” Taras said, expressing a mix of frustration and resignation. “We were all in this together, but in the end, they chose to protect their own interests rather than standing with me.”
The local police arrived shortly thereafter, but by the time they boarded Lady Anastasia, the yacht had only sustained partial flooding. Though the damage was significant, it was not enough to completely sink the vessel, and it was eventually towed to a dry dock in Port Adriano, where it remains to this day, idle and seized by authorities.
Taras was briefly detained following the incident. However, Spanish authorities ultimately determined that no significant damage had been done to the yacht and that no Spanish property had been harmed. As a result, the judge ruled that there were insufficient grounds to hold him. He was released and allowed to return to Ukraine.
Upon his return to Ukraine, Taras enlisted in the Armed Forces, where he now serves in a unit that repairs military equipment.
His actions on the yacht were driven by a sense of duty to his country and a need to fight back, in whatever way possible, against Russian aggression.
“I don’t expect anyone to understand my decision,” he reflected. “But I acted for my people. I did what I felt was right, and I would do it again.”
As of now, Lady Anastasia remains at anchor in Port Adriano, having been floated and then seized as part of economic sanctions against Russia’s oligarchs.
