The Russian embassy to Nigeria confirmed on Sunday that seven Russian sailors kidnapped by Nigerian pirates had been released.

Axar.az reports that, earlier on Sunday, Sevastopol human rights commissioner Pavel Butsai told Sputnik that seven Russian sailors as well as a Ukrainian citizen had been released from the captivity of Nigerian pirates.

"The embassy confirms that all Russian sailors kidnapped by pirates from the ship BBC Caribbean were released and left Nigeria," the embassy wrote on its Twitter page.

The ship BBC Caribbean, which belongs to German Briese Schiffahrts cargo company, was attacked on February 5, about 107 nautical miles southwest of the Bonny Island in the Gulf of Guinea, en route from the city of Douala in Cameroon to Tema, Ghana.

Eight crew members, seven Russians and one Ukrainian, were kidnapped while the ship itself was not seized. Briese Schiffahrts managed to agree with the kidnappers on release of the sailors.