Journalist flees Russia after Arctic Sea piracy story

Mikhail Voitenko, editor of online maritime bulletin Sovfracht, said he left after menacing late-night phone call

A journalist who broke the story of a Russian cargo ship apparently hijacked by pirates announced he had fled Russia, fearing for his life.

Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the online maritime bulletin Sovfracht, said he had left the country after receiving a menacing late-night phone call. Voitenko said an unidentified man called him on the night of 1 September and warned him he was "stepping on the heels of some serious people".

Speaking from Istanbul, where he is now in hiding, Voitenko said he was bluntly informed that these "guys are out for revenge. I was told: 'They are very unhappy with you. But they don't want unpleasantness'." Voitenko said the man urged him to leave Russia as rapidly as possible.

Speaking by phone to the Guardian, he said he was intending to stay out of the country until "things calmed down". More