The Hussites seized four Ukrainians.
Four Ukrainian sailors are being held captive by the Houthis in Yemen. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this at a joint briefing with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Kyiv on Friday, January 12.
According to him, the situation in the Red Sea is also very important for Ukraine, because it affected the safety of our citizens.
“Now four of our sailors are being held captive by the Houthis. And we will work on their return,” Zelenskyy said, without giving details.
In November 2022, it became known that the Houthis had captured the Galaxy Leader ship with an international civilian crew in the Red Sea. There were 25 sailors from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Mexico on board. The exact number of captured Ukrainians was not announced at the time.
It will be recalled that on the night of January 12, the United States and Britain struck the Houthis. Explosions thundered in a number of cities in Yemen. Later, US President Joe Biden made a statement on this matter.
Before the attack, the UN Security Council passed a US resolution condemning Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
On January 3, 12 countries jointly warned Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen of “consequences” if they do not stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
“Let our message be clear: we call for an immediate end to these illegal attacks and the release of illegally detained ships and crews,” said a statement from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Bahrain.
“The Houthis will bear the consequences if they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and the free flow of trade in the region’s critical waterways,” the statement said. It is not specified what exactly the consequences are.
Yemen’s pro-Iranian group Ansar Allah (known as the Houthis, or the Houthi movement), which controls northern Yemen, previously announced it was entering the war with Israel and would fire on any ships going to, from, or are related to him. In recent days, shelling from their side has been happening almost every day. At the same time, ships that are not related to Israel are also attacked. Houthi representatives explain their actions by the fact that the crews of these vessels did not respond to radio calls.