US citizen detained after accidentally sailing to Russia
MOSCOW — Officials in Moscow say a U.S. citizen has been detained in Russia’s Far East after accidently sailing there from Alaska on a small boat.
John Martin had been traveling down the Yukon River across Alaska on a one-person boat when he ended up in the open Bering Sea, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. He spent several days at sea in bad weather and eventually washed up on Russian shores.
Martin, who lives in Anchorage, was detained Wednesday by Russian officials in the Far Eastern region of Chukotka. The U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok was informed about the incident.
Zakharova told reporters Friday in Moscow that Martin’s condition was “satisfactory.”
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
