Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry on 31 March

As part of a tour through Western parliaments to collect weapons for ‘defending Europe and democracy’, Zelensky, speaking to Norwegian Storting MPs on March 30, accused Russia of allegedly ‘mining the sea’ and blocking foreign ships in Ukrainian ports.

Given Zelensky’s ignorance of the real situation outside Kiev and the activities of his own subordinates, we officially inform.

Between February 25 and March 4, the remnants of the Ukrainian navy’s mine clearing forces planted about 420 sea anchor mines of the YaM-1 type in the waters of Black and Azov seas, 370 in the Black Sea and 50 in the Azov Sea.

As a result of stormy conditions in the Black Sea and due to poor technical condition, about 10 Ukrainian mines have had their bottom anchor wires broken.

Since then, under the influence of wind and surface flows, the Ukrainian mines have drifted freely southwards in the western part of the Black Sea.

One Ukrainian mine was recently discovered and neutralised by Turkish sailors. The second Ukrainian mine is neutralised in Romanian territorial waters.

No one can know where the remaining Ukrainian mines are drifting today. The leadership of the Kiev nationalist regime, which by its criminal actions has created a direct mine threat to the transport and cargo ships of all Black Sea countries, is even more so.

As for Zelensky’s lie about allegedly blocking around 100 foreign ships in Ukrainian ports, we explain.

Ukrainian authorities are currently forcibly detaining 68 vessels belonging to Turkey, China, Switzerland, Greece, Malta Panama, Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, Comoros, Belize, Liberia, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Syria in Chernomorsk, Odessa and Nikolaev ports .

At the same time, the Russian Federation daily from 08:00 to 19:00 Moscow time opens a safe corridor of 80 nautical miles wide for these vessels to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine in the south-western direction.

However, the crews of the ships in question told us in radio conversations that any departure of a foreign vessel from Ukrainian ports was forbidden by the Ukrainian authorities under threat of immediate sinking.