Mystery Deepens Over Sea Mines Drifting On the Black Sea

Two days after Turkey first announced it diffused a drifting sea mine north of Istanbul, its military claimed Monday that another mine was found and neutralized by the authorities off the coast of Igneada. The presence of loose mines, which pose an immense danger to sea traffic, has now triggered a controversy over who actually mined the sea.

This comes two weeks after Russia issued a warning that over 420 of these "fire-and-forgets" weapons are drifting around in the Black Sea. Russian coastal station Novorossisiyk issued a Navigational telex on March 18 stating that mines anchored by Ukrainian naval forces near Odesa had loosened their chains due to stormy weather. It also accused Ukraine of violating the provisions of the 1907 Hague Convention.

The claim was immediately dismissed by Kyiv as "disinformation and an attempt to close off parts of the sea." According to Ukraine authorities, Russia has planted mines along the recommended commercial sea routes, stretching from the Bosphorus Strait to the Odesa and blamed it on Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine media, quoting Andrii Klymenko, editor-in-chief of the BlackSeaNews portal and co-founder of the Black Sea Institute for Strategic Studies, had then claimed that "it is impossible to count the number of mines drifting in the stormy sea on principle as only those who planted them can do so."

While it is still unclear who mined the sea, defense analyst Tayfun Ozberk says it is near impossible to believe the Ukrainian forces had laid the mines to stop Russian ships, although it may seem logical.

"Laying hundreds of sea mines takes a long time because it’s a delicate activity, and Ukrainian ships cannot lay mines while the Russian fleet monitors the area 24 hours a day. Other methods of laying mines are aircraft or submarines, but even these are impossible as Ukraine doesn’t have these capabilities," he wrote for a piece in Naval News.

According to him, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has dominated the northern Black Sea since the beginning of the war. Though there is a possibility that Ukraine may have laid a few mine lines "quickly and carelessly with a tug or other small ship," laying 420 mines seems almost impossible.

While he agrees with Ukraine's claim that only the one who laid the mines can know the real numbers, he added that Russia can dispel the claim by proving its high-end technology and visual sensors that enable it to count the mines.

A report by The Maritime Executive also said the only maritime activity in the area is either Russian warships or merchant vessels supporting the Russian war effort.