Russian commandos from the large anti-submarine...

According to the official, Navy forces made the decision to release the Moscow University tanker as they were aware the sailors had taken cover in an area inaccessible to the pirates on board the ship.

"Around 3.00 a.m. Moscow time [23:00 GMT], the large anti-submarine ship sailed out toward the tanker"s location to assess the situation using technical equipment. Then the decision on conducting a special operation was made. During the operation, none of the Russians were injured," the official said adding the pirates had been detained.

The official said the crew from the Marshal Shaposhnikov was currently on board the tanker.

The incident with Moscow University tanker has become the most notorious case since the Arctic Sea cargo vessel was hijacked on the way from Finland last summer. The Russian Black Fleet sailors then freed Arctic Sea.

The Moscow University tanker with 23 Russian crewmembers and 86,000 tons of oil was hijacked by Somali pirates on Wednesday

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