Russian Investigative Committee launches inquiry into N. Korean poachers' attack on Russian border guards
MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee has launched an inquiry into the attack of North Korean poachers on Russian border guards in the Sea of Japan on September 17.
"Investigators are examining the North Korean fishing vessel, whose crew attacked officers of the Federal Security Service's border department in the Primorye territory," a spokesman for the agency told Interfax on Friday.
Fishing ships flying the flag of North Korea were seen poaching sea bio-resources in the Russian exclusive economic zone of the Sea of Japan in the evening of September 17, the agency said.
"The North Korean poachers fiercely resisted actions of the inspection team of the Federal Security Service's border department in the Primorye territory, and four officers sustained injuries of various degrees of severity, including one who suffered gunshot wounds, as a result," it said.
The injured have been admitted to Vladivostok hospitals. Their condition is stable.
The Far Eastern transport investigative branch of the Russian Investigative Committee is carrying out the inquiry on counts of "attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer."