The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has said that since the beginning of the large-scale aggressive war against Ukraine, the Russian Federation has been intensifying the illegal activities of its naval forces in the Black Sea – using unguided drifting ammunition.

"In addition to capturing and destroying civilian ships, bombarding the territory of Ukraine from the sea, Russia has come up with a new method of sea robbery, which is the use of sea mines as unguided drifting ammunition. It was these drifting mines that were discovered on March 26 and on March 28, 2022 off the coast of Turkey and Romania," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Tuesday evening.

Based on the results of the identification, it was established that these are sea mines, which at the beginning of 2022 were not registered with the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"These mines were seized by the armed forces of the Russian Federation in 2014 during the military invasion and temporary occupation of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol by Russia. Therefore, Russia, using naval mines from military depots seized in 2014, deliberately resorts to provocations and discrediting Ukraine in front of international partners," the ministry said.

By such actions, the aggressor state seeks to hide 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 sea robbery.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said that the conscious use of drifting sea mines by Russia turns them into a de facto weapon of indiscriminate action, which threatens, first of all, civilian navigation and human life at sea in the entire water area not only of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, but also of the Kerch and Black Sea straits.

"Responsibility for the use of drifting naval mines, as well as their unpredictable consequences, lies solely with the Russian Federation and its naval forces. Ukraine insists on bringing Russia to international responsibility for illegal actions in the Black Sea, war crimes and, in particular, the use of naval mines as a weapon of indiscriminate action, uncontrollably distributed by the Black Sea," the ministry said.

"Ukraine, in compliance with its international obligations, notified the International Maritime Organization on the use of drifting mines by Russia in the Black Sea, including during an extraordinary session of the Council and within the framework of the IMO Legal Committee, as well as international partners through the channels of the International Automated Maritime Navigation Safety System (NAVTEX)," the Ukrainian ministry said.