The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is checking reports of the seizure of a vessel with Ukrainians aboard off the coast of Nigeria.

"The Foreign Ministry is already checking the reports, and relevant instructions were issued," the acting director of the ministry's information policy department, Yevhen Perebyinis, told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

Earlier, Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper reported that last Sunday a Russian citizen, three Ukrainians and two citizens of India were captured by pirates off the coast of Nigeria.

The pirates attacked the Armada Tuah tug vessel 70 kilometers off the coast of the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa. The ship, owned by Armada Company, was flying the flag of Malaysia. The attack was beaten off, but the pirates managed to escape together with the kidnapped sailors. Their whereabouts are unknown.

The International Maritime Bureau earlier confirmed reports of the attack on the ship. The Nigerian Navy has made no comment on this issue so far.

This is the third pirate attack on ships off the coast of Nigeria in the last ten days.