Any ships could become victims of Russian mines in Black and Azov seas - Zelensky

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking before the Norwegian parliament, said that any ships could become victims of Russian ships in the Black and Azov Seas.

"Ukrainian ports on the Black and Azov Seas are blocked by Russia on the first day of its invasion. About 100 ships cannot enter the Mediterranean Sea. Some ships were simply captured. This is piracy to steal cargo. Several ships were hit by fire. But the blockade of the ports was implemented by the Russian Federation not just by the forces of the fleet. They mined the sea. And now the mines are laid by Russian forces and are drifting by the sea. This is a danger for everyone, for any ships of any country in the Black Sea region," Zelensky said.

"One of these mines was timely defused in the Bosphorus, another near the Bulgarian border, another one off the coast of Romania. And I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if one of these mines cannot be defused on time. Who will suffer then? Perhaps the ferries, God forbid, or passenger liners, merchant ships or tankers, undermining which could lead not only to human casualties, but also to a large-scale environmental disaster. And then Russia will again say, as always: that it’s not like it is," he added.

According to the president, such criminality of the actions of the Russian Federation at sea deserves special attention, since this is one of the greatest threats to international security that arose after the Second World War.