Drifting mines in the Black Sea pose danger, Turkey says
Sea mines in the Black Sea are posing a danger to shipping, the Turkish Naval Forces’ Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography warned on March 22.
Mines could be drifting in the Black Sea near Odesa, Ochakiv, Chornomorsk and Yuzhne, the office’s press service said in a statement.
The statement says that ships in the vicinity should immediately report any sightings of drifting mines to the relevant authorities, indicating their location.
On March 19, it became known that Russia had changed the recommended routes in the Black Sea from the Bosphorus to Odesa. Ukrainian experts learned that the Sochi seaport in Russia had sent a warning to shipowners and captains of vessels in the area about the threat of “detonation of the Ukrainian Navy on mines drifting in the Black Sea.”
Ukraine denies mining the area, which is close to Ukraine’s only remaining major port, Odesa.
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