Two Russian sailors from the sanctioned oil tanker, Marinera, which was detained by the US Navy, have returned home.
According to Report, citing TASS, one of the crew members, Maksim Karpenko, arrived in Kerch on Sunday morning.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the two sailors had been released and were on their way back to Russia.
"Everything is fine. I returned home this morning to Kerch. My colleague from the tanker also returned home, to Astrakhan. We were warmly welcomed," Karpenko told TASS.
The United States took control of the oil tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic near the United Kingdom on January 7. The vessel, previously named Bella 1, had been pursued by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Venezuela last month.
There were 28 people on board the tanker. According to the White House, a federal court issued arrest warrants for crew members for violations of US law, and they were to be transported to the United States for legal proceedings.