Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday praised the Defense Ministry for freeing the Russian tanker Moscow University from pirates and requested that all servicemen who took part in the operation be put forward for awards.
"Fine fellows, well done. I ask you to prepare awards for all our servicemen who played a hand in accurately, professionally and quickly freeing the tanker," Medvedev told the Russian defense minister.
The Moscow University tanker, carrying 23 crewmembers and 86,000 tons of oil was hijacked 350 miles east of the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates on Wednesday at around 08.00 Moscow time [04:00 GMT.]
Russian forces on the large anti-submarine warship Marshal Shaposhnikov accessed the tanker by helicopter, abseiled on board and freed the crew, which had locked itself in a safe room after disabling the ship.
MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti)
