Turkey and Romania have defused drifting Ukrainian mines. Who is next?

29.03.2022, Moscow.

The Ukrainian Navy created big problems in the Black Sea. Some of the navy mines that had been installed on February 24 near the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, were torn from their cables and drifted freely as a result of the storm.

In total, Ukraine has installed about 420 obsolete mines produced in the first half of the twentieth century. In this way, Ukraine has violated the international Convention forbidding the planting of mines that are unsafe after being torn off from their anchorage.

The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet issued a warning to mariners regarding the mines back on March 18. The next day, the FSB Public Relations Center reported that the mines were drifting in the western part of the Black Sea. The possible direction of drifting was also noted.

“Considering that surface current of the southern direction prevails in the areas of the listed Ukrainian ports, the possibility of the mines torn from their anchors drifting to the Bosporus Strait and further to the seas of the Mediterranean basin cannot be ruled out,” it was specified in the report.

On March 20, the government of Bulgaria already announced the danger of Ukrainian mines drifting. Residents of the Black Sea coast of the country in the areas of Dobrich, Varna and Burgas were asked to be vigilant and report to the emergency services if “suspicious spherical objects were found in the water or on the shore.”

On March 21, Bulgaria and Romania decided to strengthen maritime border security. Also, the countries permanently monitored the courses of all vessels in the Black Sea.

The very next day, the Office of Navigational Hydrography and Oceanography of the Turkish Navy confirmed that some of the Ukrainian sea mines had been torn off by the waves and were drifting freely in the Black Sea. For his part, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Defense Ministry was “taking all necessary measures” and asked not to be overly concerned.

On March 25, the Russian Armed Forces General Staff reported that at least ten Ukrainian mines were carried away into the western part of the Black Sea. Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy, Deputy Chief of Staff, noted that this “poses a real threat to warships and civilian vessels.” He also called Ukraine’s use of obsolete mines “reckless.”

The threat that had been warned about was not long in coming. Turkey’s Ministry of National Security said on March 26 that a mine-like object had been neutralized in the Bosphorus Strait. A decision was made to stop ships traveling in both directions through the strait.

Later, the Ministry of Defense officially confirmed that a mine was indeed found in the Bosphorus Strait. It was stressed that it had been defused and the strait was open. The Turkish Overseas Captains’ Association suggested putting pilot boats on a number of Black Sea routes to ensure the safety of commercial vessels.

On March 26, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported that foreign ships were stuck in Ukrainian ports because of the mine danger created by Ukraine. As of March 26, a total of 67 vessels from 15 countries were unable to reach the open sea.

“The threat of shelling and high mine danger created by official Kiev in its internal waters and territorial sea does not allow vessels to safely leave the ports of Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa, and Yuzhny and go to the open sea,” said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, Director of the National Defense Management Center, adding that mines could reach Romania and Bulgaria.

On March 28, Turkey reported that another Ukrainian mine had been defused. It was discovered off the coast of Igneada, not far from the Bulgarian border.

And on March 28, the Romanian Navy said the same day that a drifting mine had been found 70 kilometers from the Capu Midia firing ground in the southeast of the country. A team of sappers and divers went to the area of detection on the minesweeper Vice-Admiral Constantine Bălescu. The Navy noted that “the mine was destroyed without any problems.”

On March 28, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev stated that the threat of Ukrainian mines drifting along the coast of the Black Sea states remained. He also stressed that “the Russian Federation is taking a full range of exhaustive measures to ensure civil navigation in the waters of the Black, Azov and Mediterranean seas.”

The Center of Public Relations of the FSB of the Russian Federation noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces “once again demonstrate the complete disregard of the basics of international law and disregard of human lives, including the lives of citizens of the states of the European Union.”

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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