Two Ukrainian being piracy hostages in Nigeria and released are returning to Ukraine on Saturday, January 5, Spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Consular Service Vasyl Kyrylych has said.

"Today, two sailors released from the captivity of pirates in Nigeria are returning to Ukraine," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Saturday.

Kyrylych said that Ukrainians are members of crews of ARK TZE and ANUKET AMBER vessels.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin reported that two Ukrainian sailors of the crews of the ARK TZE and ANUKET AMBER ships had been released from pirate captivity.

"We are starting 2019 with good news: two Ukrainian seamen, members of the crews of ARK TZE and ANUKET AMBER ships, are returning home from pirate captivity. They are the last of the 12 detained Ukrainian sailors who were abducted by pirates since last year," Klimkin wrote in his Twitter account on Friday night.

In November 2018, two merchant vessels ARK TZE and ANUKET AMBER with 12 crew members on board were abducted in the territorial waters of West Africa.