As part of today’s prisoner exchange, the commander of the only Ukrainian minesweeper, Oleksandr Boychuk, who disappeared in the first months of the full-scale war, was released. The former commander of the minesweeper Genichesk, which was destroyed by the occupiers, hijacked this ship during the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

As Censor.NET informs  , this was reported by hromadske.

“My friend, the defender of Mariupol, who disappeared in the first months of the full-scale operation and who was not on the lists of the living for the first year, but his wife believed and waited – finally today he was released from terrorist captivity!”, – said serviceman Bohdan Kutepov.

Military Oleksandr Boychuk is from Volodymyr, Volyn Oblast. Before joining the Navy in 2009, he served on a peacekeeping mission in Iraq for 8 months.

In March 2014, during the seizure of Crimea, Boychuk, as the senior midshipman of the minesweeper “Genichesk”, brought the ship into combat readiness. On March 18, all warships went to the exit from Donuzlav to try to break through, but they did not have time: the exit had already been blocked.

Later, the commander of the Genichesk did not let the Russians on board, even though machine gun emplacements and automatic grenade launchers were pointed at the ships, and the minesweeper was running out of food and fuel.

The ship decided to try to escape again, but was caught by a boat with Russian special forces. They threw stun grenades at the ship and landed on a minesweeper. The sailors fought back with hoses and chains.

Eventually, the Genichesk was moored at the pier, and the crew members went ashore. Boychuk and his family left for Ukrainian-controlled territory. Soon, Russian tugs towed the minesweeper out of Donuzlav and handed it over to the Ukrainian side, and Boychuk again became its commander.

During the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, the serviceman was in Mariupol on the command ship “Donbas”. With his comrades from three ships, they first defended the ships, the port, and then the city. There, Boychuk was surrounded and captured.

In 2017, Hromadske released the film “Genichesk” – about the then only Ukrainian minesweeper, its crew, and commander Oleksandr Boychuk.

Author:  Lesya Karpenko Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/n3568676

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