Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that there is no danger to navigation in the Black Sea, after reports were received of sea mines being washed away by the waters of the Black Sea.
In a press statement, Akar said, in response to a question about the measures taken against the floating mines at sea: “We are working to remove this danger without harming anyone. Our mine monitoring activities continue in coordination with the Coast Guard Command and other institutions.”
Akar stressed that “the naval forces command’s mine-search ships and maritime patrol planes are on alert, risks are being assessed and necessary measures are being taken. Our seaborne special forces (SAS) teams have been put in a state of high readiness.”
The Turkish Ministry of Defense had announced earlier the discovery of a mine off the coast of the Turkish city of Ignada (the western coast of the Black Sea) near the border with Bulgaria.
The Russian Federal Security Service had previously announced that the Ukrainian army, after the start of the Russian special operation, had placed about 420 mines in the waters around the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. And the Russian Federal Security did not rule out the possibility of drifting due to the current, to the Bosphorus strait, and even further to the seas of the Mediterranean, due to the current.