Russian SWIMS 12 miles to Japan to apply for asylum

A Russian man swam 12 miles from the Russian controlled island of Kunashir to the Japanese coastal town Shibetsu on the island of Hokkaido to ask for political asylum on Sunday.

Daily Mail

Japanese authorities have not yet provided official confirmation of the Russian asylum seeker's identity, but an unnamed source close to the investigation named the man as Vaas Feniks Nokard, a 38-year-old native of Izhevsk.

He was detained by Japanese authorities and taken to a police station in Hokkaido where he was interrogated about his journey.

The unnamed source told Russia state-run outlet RIA Novosti: 'It looks like he got there in a wetsuit. He just crossed the 12 mile-strait by swimming.' 

Nokard was allegedly deported by Japanese authorities in 2011 for breaking visa rules, and has a track record for forging official documents which saw him deported from Thailand and Bali.