Vladimir Ilnitsky biography

The city in the palm of the La Ferte castle is Ukrainian captain Vladimir Ilnitsky, sentenced to life imprisonment, spent 10 years in a French prison. This history incredible in its cruelty and savagery occurred in a year.

The crew of the vessel, following the shores of Africa to France, discovered on board illegal immigrants - African refugees who went to a distant country in search of the best share. They were brutally thrown overboard. The foreign press called it "Russian hunting for African hares." In fact, there was a Ukrainian crew on the ship. Although the tragedy does not become less dramatic from this.

The President of the Far Eastern Association of Marine Captains Peter Osichansky met with Captain Vladimir Ilnitsky in a French prison, where he is now serving a life imprisonment. At the General Assembly of the International Federation of the Association of Captains of the Methak, which will be held in May of Vladivostok in May, the question of the Ukrainian prisoner will again come to the surface.

However, everything is in order. This is what Peter Osichansky talked about during a conversation with a correspondent “B”. The French date - I learned this terrible story, like everyone else, from newspapers. Since he himself stood on the captain’s bridge at that time, this could not but excite me. Although it had no idea how this could happen. I thought the press shrugged something, thickened the colors.

In life, everything turned out to be even worse. By the way, how did you get to him? I began to write it under the impression of this terrible story. I wanted to look at this situation from the perspective of the captain, through the prism of his feelings, experiences. And although the very fact of the tragedy in the story is almost unrecognizable when I already went to the final, I acutely felt: there is not enough information.

He contacted the French captains, asked to help in organizing a meeting with Ilnitsky. They immediately responded. And last year, when I had a business trip in the city, I must say thanks to my French colleagues, they organized everything so carefully, supplying me with all the necessary papers and even a map with a detailed route that I got to the place without any adventure. This prison for especially dangerous criminals, as it turned out, was two hours by train by train north of Paris.

For another twenty minutes he looped in a taxi between the fields before he faced a beautiful old castle. It is here that a prison of the first category is located, where the prisoners are now serving a life sentence. Alas, the camera was seized from me by visiting the prison. However, the magazines “Power”, “Expert”, “Arguments and Facts”, which I brought for Ilnitsky, were also not missed.

True, they certainly promised to transfer them to the captain, later. I had to go through several cell bunkers, before I saw such only in French films. When he went into the date of the date and turned to the captain in Russian, he was simply amazed. As it turned out later, having learned that the representative of the mefak was going to come to him, Ilnitsky began to repeat hard in ten years English for all these years, the captain taught French.

He believed that it would certainly be an Englishman. The captain looked for his age, sixty with a little, very good: thin, fit, in a light shirt, trousers. I would meet him in this form on the street, I would never have thought that this is a prisoner, doomed to life imprisonment. Only his gaze was unusual, very close. Three hours flew in as a moment.

The time of meeting in prison was not limited. Moreover, the guards came out, Ilnitsky and I remained together in a cozy, almost at home, room where only paintings were not enough. I think we could say the same amount, but I already had a ticket on the way back. This is how she looked from the words of the captain. A deadly flight of Ruby vessel under the library flag, with a Ukrainian crew on board, came out of the African port of Cameroon to France with the most popular goods: coffee, tea, cocoa.

A few days before approaching the port, Gavr Starp discovered traces of outsiders aboard the ship. In the morning, abundant dew falls in these latitudes. There were nine of them. From hunger, people began to eat a raw goods, thirst expelled them on the deck. The old man immediately suggested: "We need to throw them overboard." The fact is that on the eve of the same ship, another crew also brought Zaitsev, and this cost a shipping company in thousands of dollars.

To which the captain remarked: "No piracy aboard the ship." Then the old man invited illegal immigrants to work. They refused, saying that they needed food and water. Africans knew their rights well: according to the International Convention, if the “hares” are found on the ship, they are obliged to put, feed, deliver them to the port and hand over to the authorities.

The authorities, in turn, are also engaged in their arrangement, nutrition and sending to their homeland. But at the same time, the bill is issued by a shipping company. She naturally seeks to cover fines at the expense of the crew. By the way, in France, prices at that time at one “hare” amounted to 45 thousand dollars.In this situation, not only the flight, but the entire many -month contract for the crew could turn out to be “free”.

Despite the fact that the telegrams were already prepared in the relevant services, the old man advised not to rush to send them: there was Friday, ahead of the weekend. He suggested that the captain still think about how to get out of this difficult situation with less losses. And here the captain showed fatal indecision: he put down the telegrams. At one in the morning, the old man, the boatswain, the cook and the sailor began to act according to their plan.

They took two “hare” from the hold, turned them into a small room, in the vestibule, there they were already waiting for a man with a rifle weapons were exchanged from the Africans for an old tape recorder. At first he shot the second to block the exit while the first tried to jump out, the killer managed to twist the shutter. The dead were thrown overboard and followed a new party. But with the last couple, and these were two brothers, the shooter got an overlay.

The shutter jammed. The lucky man managed to escape. He was searched all night and all day, but they could not find it. Where he managed to hide is unknown. This was not even mentioned at the trial, but judging by the fact that during the investigation the pool was often mentioned, probably it was he who turned out to be a saving place. At that time, Nesseyn was not used for its intended purpose, a tarp and any trash were dropped there.

During a short parking in the port, apparently, when there was an ebb and Ruby “shaved”, comparing with the pier, miraculously surviving the suicide bomber, he managed to escape. He appeared on the ship with the police and identified the killers. On the first day, they took custody of the direct performers of this brutal murder. On the second - the captain was arrested: he is responsible for everything that happens on board the ship.

The case was under consideration for about three years. All defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and are now serving a sentence in France, only in different prisons. They say that the Americans even shot a film for this story. He went out four years after this terrible drama and is called the Deadly Flight. I have not yet been able to purchase it. But I read reviews. Most of the audience called the picture “non-verbal” because of the cruelty of the topic, saying that only people with strong will and strong nerves can withstand it.

And the captain was accused of a poor thing. However, in the film, shot on a specific fact, for some reason we are still talking about the Russian crew. By the way, after that terrible case, the French government significantly reduced fines for illegal immigrants. To return home - Peter Ivanovich, you said that at the General Assembly of the mefac, which will be held this spring in Vladivostok, in particular, the case of Captain Ilnitsky will appear.

In connection with what? By the way, Ilnitsky has a separate camera with a shower, a refrigerator, a TV. In a French prison, I saw from the window excellent volleyball and basketball sites, a football field, a gym. They even work there only of their own free will. Captain Ilnitsky works, he sews shoes and receives for this, after all the deductions, francs a month more than dollars a month.

With this money, he can buy fruits, vegetables and even beer. Part of this amount goes to a special account, money can subsequently be transferred to relatives. But ... Ilnitsky has a family in Ukraine. His son is also a captain. He once came to his father in jail, his wife too. The captain wants to die at home. In addition, he counts on pardon.