According to the results of the identification, the found sea mines were not registered by the Ukrainian Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of early 2022 because they had been seized by Russia during the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
It was mentioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA). The announcement is posted on the ministry's website.
"These mines were seized by the Russian armed forces in 2014 during Russia's military invasion and temporary occupation of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol. Therefore, Russia, using naval mines seized in 2014, resorts to provocations and discreditation of Ukraine in front of international partners,” it is mentioned.
By such actions, the aggressor state seeks to conceal its illegal activities in the Black Sea, which is contrary to the principles and norms of international maritime and humanitarian law, and to evade responsibility for war crimes and piracy.
MFA emphasizes that the Russia's conscious use of drifting sea mines turns them into de facto indiscriminate weapons, which threatens, first of all, civilian shipping and human life at sea in the entire waters not only of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, but also the Kerch and Black Sea straits.
The Russian Federation and its navy are fully responsible for the use of drifting mines, as well as for the unpredictable consequences the mines could cause.
Ukraine insists on bringing Russia to international responsibility for illegal actions in the Black Sea, war crimes and, in particular, the use of sea mines as indiscriminate weapons, which are being spread uncontrollably in the Black Sea.
Ukraine has notified the International Maritime Organization of Russia's use of drift mines in the Black Sea, in compliance with its international obligations, also during an extraordinary session of the Council and the IMO Legal Committee, as well as international partners via an international automated safety system for navigation at sea.
Earlier, on 26 March, Turkey was forced to suspend the movement of ships as an old-model mine was found in the Bosphorus.
A mine was later discovered off the coast of Romania.