Journo Who Broke Russian Pirate Story Flees Country

Mikhail Voitenko says he knows more than he can tell about Arctic Sea's cargo

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 4, 2009 5:01 AM CDT

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Journo Who Broke Russian Pirate Story Flees Country — Mikhail Voitenko, the editor of the online Maritime Bulletin-Sovfracht, speak to the press in Moscow last month with a big screen showing a picture of the Arctic Sea freighter. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The Russian journalist who was first to report on the disappearance of the Arctic Sea cargo ship has fled the country after receiving threats, the Guardian reports. Mikhail Voitenko, who speculated that the ship may have been carrying a secret cargo of weapons or "something much more expensive and dangerous," says he received a call warning him that people were out for revenge and to leave the country.

Voitenko says the caller told him he was "stepping on the heels of some serious people." The ship, recovered by the Russian Navy off the coast of Africa last month, was listed as having a cargo of Finnish timber, but some experts suspect it may have been carrying missiles bound for Iran or Syria and was intercepted by Israeli forces. "I know more than I can say, but you know what. I am afraid," said Voitenki.
(More Mikhail Voitenko stories.)

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