That said: On one hand, this is how Russians in the Far East behave and this is how Chinese smugglers behave.

On the other hand, why didn't the Russian captain simply follow the vessel until a larger Russian warship and plane could show up to board the freighter? Why was it so necessary to sink this ship??

The Yahoo AP version of this story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090219/wl_asia_afp/russiachinaindonesiashippingaccident_20090219145823