I am sure Putiatin landed in Japan? Can't get to my sources right now. IIRC the Japanese repatriated him, but if they had executed him it would have been a de facto declaration of war
Poutiatian had a close escape--but not from the Japanese, who never endangered him and indeed allowed him to negotiate a favorable treaty with him, even after his ship had been destroyed!
"With all of their maneuvering and superior advantages the British and French had not been able to trap the sly Russian Admiral. Just two months after the completion of British negotiations with the Japanese (October 14, 1854) Admiral Poutiatin arrived in the port of Shimoda recently opened to the Americans, It was a grim Russian Admiral who entered Japan on this occasion and he did not intend to leave without a treaty. The decks of the Diana, his heavy ship of 50 guns, were cleared for action. The guard boats that clustered around were ordered to depart and the Japanese were warned that if they returned Russian guns would disperse them. Poutiatin's wishes were respected. His firmness got immediate action from the Japanese who began negotiations with him for a treaty.
"An incident of singular importance occurred while Poutiatin and the Japanese were discussing the preliminaries of a treaty which had much to do with his success in formulating an agreement with the Shogun's government. On December 23, 1854, a tidal wave destroyed the village of Shimoda and wrecked the Diana. During the disaster the Russian crew aided in the rescue work and saved the lives of a number of Japanese. The good will gained by their conduct at this time provided Poutiatin with a golden opportunity to prosecute more vigorously the negotiations already begun. He entered at once into the final conversations for a treaty of commerce and navigation which was completed by January 26,1855. The treaty Poutiatin made with the Japanese without a boat, without an armed guard, and without cannon that would shoot, was a remarkable achievement in itself.
"Following the completion of the treaty the next question that faced Poutiatin was how he was to get the treaty to Russia for ratification with no means of transportation. Just at this time there arrived in Japan an American schooner, the Caroline Le Foote, with stores and portable storehouses as well as some speculators who wanted to reside in Japan. The Russians took this opportunity to make a deal with her captain to charter the vessel for the purpose of carrying the treaty and part of the stranded crew back to Russian territory. This accomplished, Poutiatin and his Lieutenant, Pouschkin, who remained in Japan, set about to construct a small ship with which to take the rest of the crew home.. The vessel that was quickly built, launched and rigged, was christened the Heda. In the meantime news of the disaster of the Diana and the plans for the Russian escape reached China. To intercept Poutiatin and the remainder of the crew H.M.S. Encounter and Barracouta left Shanghai on March 21, 1855, to patrol the coast in the vicinity of Shimoda. A French corvette was also sent to Shimoda. To gain entrance into the bay for observation purposes the captain of the French corvette had two shipwrecked Japanese whom he desired to return to their native land. The ship anchored in the outer harbor, but the Japanese refused to negotiate with the French, ordered the vessel off, and would not permit the Japanese sailors to be landed,. This curt dismissal was a great relief to the Russians who were now almost ready to attempt a dash to Petropavlovsk. With eighty men on board, and the dismantled guns saved from the Diana, the Heda actually succeeded in reaching its destination although at one time it was only a quarter of a mile away from the British man-of-war, the Sybille.
"During the early summer of 1855 the British and French did succeed in capturing almost the entire crew of the Diana, excluding Poutiatin, who were being taken to Ayan in the brig Greta, of the Bremen Free State, which was flying the American flag. It was the hope of the Russian seamen to re-join their own fleet at the soonest possible moment..."
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2049762