The Ukrainian military mined the approaches to the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Sea of ​​Azov and approaches to Mariupol were mined with anchor sea mines. This is evidenced by video footage taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle, which discovered near the Mariupol port a sea mine torn off from its installation site. This poses a threat not only to warships, but also to civilian ships.

How many naval mines can be in the waters of the Sea of ​​​​Azov is still unknown, although it was previously assumed that Ukrainian territorial waters in the Black Sea were mined.

When exactly the Ukrainian military could mine the Sea of ​​Azov is unknown, but this would not have been possible without ships. This indicates that this was done either before the start of the Russian military operation, or in the first days after it began.

According to official data from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian Navy could place about 50 naval mines in the waters of the Sea of ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbAzov, but their exact number is still unknown.

Experts draw attention to the fact that previously blown up in the Black Sea, foreign civilian ships could well have come across free-driving sea mines, which, by the way, are prohibited due to the threat posed to civilian ships.