UK warns of Russia laying ‘sea mines’ to deter Black Sea cargo ships

Russia may use sea mines against civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports, the United Kingdom has said citing intelligence sources.

The warning comes as Ukraine’s navy said that 12 cargo vessels were ready to enter a fledgling Black Sea shipping corridor on their way to Ukrainian ports, a significant increase in maritime traffic to Ukraine in defiance of a de facto Russian blockade of the country’s sea ports.

The UK’s foreign office said in a statement on Wednesday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was considering the use of sea mines to deter civilian ships travelling through a “humanitarian corridor” established by Ukraine to facilitate grain exports from the Black Sea ports.

“Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“By releasing our assessment of this intelligence, the UK seeks to expose Russia’s tactics to deter any such incident from occurring,” it added.

The UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was quoted as saying that “the world is watching” what unfolds in the Black Sea and “Russia’s cynical attempts to lay blame on Ukraine for their attacks”.