Turkish Defence Ministry Reportedly Warned Ships of Mines Drifting in Black Sea

ANKARA (Sputnik) - The Turkish Ministry of Defence asked ships to track drifting mines after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that Ukraine had mined approaches to its ports in the Black Sea, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.

On Sunday, FSB said that the Ukrainian Navy installed around 420 mines on the approaches to the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhne since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. The agency did not rule out the possibility of the mines drifting into the Bosphorus Strait and further into the Mediterranean waters due to the current.

According to the newspaper, Turkish ships were asked to monitor possible drifting mines and promptly report to the main coordination centre of rescue operations should such a mine be detected.

On 24 February, Russia began a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.