2 men have been jailed for smuggling migrants across the English Channel after their yacht was intercepted off the Isle of Wight last summer.
Ukrainian nationals Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 37, and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, were arrested by National Crime Agency officers in July 2025 after the vessel, named Uforia, was tracked into UK waters.
Authorities in France alerted the NCA after the yacht departed Le Havre. Officers monitored the vessel as it crossed the Channel before specialist Border Security Command maritime teams intercepted it off the Isle of Wight and escorted it to Haslar Marina in Gosport, Hampshire.
On board were the 2 crew members along with 5 migrants – 4 Albanian men and a Vietnamese woman – who were being smuggled into the UK.
Investigators later discovered that one of the Albanian men was already wanted in the UK after failing to appear in court for drugs offences, suggesting he had previously been in the country illegally.
Two migrants told officers they had been instructed to stay in a hotel in Fecamp, France, before being collected by the yacht on Sunday (20th July). One claimed to have paid £16,000 for the crossing, while another said they were due to pay £13,000 upon arrival in the UK.
Working with French Gendarmerie and Home Office intelligence teams, the NCA linked the vessel to several suspected people smuggling crossings during the summers of 2024 and 2025. The yacht had previously visited marinas along the south coast, including Brighton.
In one incident on 10th August 2024, a harbour master in Itchenor, West Sussex, reported suspicious activity after the yacht arrived with 6 migrants on board. On another occasion in June 2025, the vessel travelled from Fecamp to the Chichester area carrying 3 suspected migrants.
Cherniavskyi, the owner of the yacht, and Yavtushenko, the skipper, were charged with facilitating illegal immigration.
Both men pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court on 14th November. At the same court today (Thursday), Cherniavskyi was sentenced to 6 years in prison and Yavtushenko to 5 years. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the yacht.
Saju Sasikumar, NCA Branch Commander, has said:
“These men ran what can only be described as a kind of ferry service, moving small numbers of people over the channel each time, but charging them a premium price for the service.
“They stood to make tens of thousands of pounds for each trip, but we were able to work with our French partners to stop this enterprise in its tracks.
“Targeting people smugglers like this remains a priority for the NCA, and we’re doing all we can to disrupt and dismantle the gangs involved, wherever they operate.”
Tim Burton, Specialist Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, has said:
“Cherniavskyi and Yavtushenko were effectively running an illegal migrant taxi service across the English Channel.
“Thanks to the National Crime Agency they were caught red handed and evidence shared by French authorities meant we were able to build an unanswerable case.
“Both knew very well they were bringing in people that had no right to enter the UK but did so anyway to make money.”
So we, the taxpayer, has to pay to imprison these men. Why are they not deported? The scumbags should be in Ukraine fighting for their country
Deport the sods on release.
Go back home and stand in front of putins bullets.
Would be a nice ending if these two where deported after finishing their sentence, oh and what has happened to the illegal migrants they bought over ? I hope they were deported too and not allowed to stay in this country.