Moscow maintains that they were part of the thousands installed by the Ukrainian troops near the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
The Russian authorities warned this Saturday that some 420 mines that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would have allegedly placed in the Black Sea are now adrift. The reason for this, according to his version, is that the last storm in the area would have broken the cables that anchored them.
According to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), these mines are already moving towards the Bosphorus Strait, with the risk that this poses to shipping. These same sources, quoted by the TASS news agency, affirm that thousands of mines have been installed in the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, and that up to 420 would be anchor mines already obsolete, since they were manufactured in the first half of the 20th century.
The aforementioned storm would have broken the anchors. “The wind and currents make them drift through the western part of the Black Sea,” they indicated from the FSB. “The surface currents in a southerly direction are dominant, so it is not ruled out that they go towards the Bosphorus and even reach the Mediterranean,” warned this Russian body.
In relation to this matter, the Russian Black Sea Fleet issued an official notice dated March 18. According to Moscow, the Ukrainian Armed Forces “once again demonstrate their absolute disregard for the foundations of International Law and for human lives, including those of citizens of the countries of the European Union.”
no minesweeper
The Avia.pro news agency has published a video of one of the mines exploding on the coast after being washed ashore by waves near Odessa. However, its authenticity has not been verified.
An added problem is that the use of minesweepers is impossible due to the proximity of the explosives to the coast, according to the Russian document collected by the Bulgarian news portal Second Front. The Kremlin authorities have warned of the risk of the presence of mines in the southwest and northwest of the Black Sea.
The laying of sea mines is a violation of the 8th Hague Convention of 1907. The main reason for this is that self-exploding mines cannot be controlled in any way and therefore are not considered safe.
#Russia #warns #mines #drifting #Black #Sea