Somali Pirates vs. Russians – Combat Footage (VIDEO, GRAPHIC)

Yo-ho-ho

Buzzfeed teamed up with CNN for a short video that is a glimpse into the lives of the infamous Somali pirates. The pirates have become known for harassing and raiding ships that they catch sailing around the Horn of Africa. In 2012, there were 297 acts of piracy that occurred worldwide and Somali pirates were responsible for 25% of those.

Government and private forces often find themselves forced to defend their vessels when attempting to navigate the coastline. It was even reported once that Geraldo was attacked by Uzi-wielding pirates, who attempted to commandeer his yacht when he was traveling past the coast. Thankfully, he escaped by firing flare guns at his attackers which scared them off.

In Russia, they don’t take to piracy too kindly. The Russian military posts videos of them attacking Somalian pirates regularly.

But it’s not just the Russian military bringing the fight to the Somalian pirates, private mariners are forced to defend themselves as well.

This next video is NSFW, as it contains some brutal footage. It shows a Russian oil tanker that was captured by pirates in 2010. The European Union refused to intervene, fearing there could be casualties. So the Russians took matters into their own hands. They boarded the vessel, moved the pirates back to their own ship, then fired on and sank the ship with all the pirates on board.