One of Russia’s most successful and welcomed soft power moves in recent years was to deploy its Navy in the Gulf of Aden, and protect the passage from the growing problem of piracy from Somalia.  The Kremlin saw the need to get involved in this lawless area after the pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter carrying 33 T72 battle tanks, but the move may have also been influenced by the strange debacle of the kidnapped “ghost ship” known as the Arctic Sea, which was suspected of carrying arms to Iran after it went off the map in the Baltic Sea, among other theories.

Since the deployment, Russia has successfully prevented a number of piracy attempts, saved and protected various crews from different countries, and made several captures.  The latest encounter, however, has turned out to be a little strange.  Last week Russian forces engaged in a firefight with a group of Somali pirates aboard an oil tanker, leading to the arrest of 10 individuals.  The pirates were brought aboard a Russian destroyer, but when it was determined that they lacked a proper legal venue to prosecute them, the suspects were “released” and then later feared drowned.