Ukrainian Navy plans to demine Black Sea trade routes in six months – spokesman

Ukrainian Navy is planning a large-scale operation to clear the Azov and Black Seas of Russian mines planned all over the waters to disable Ukrainian operations.

The demining of trade routes in the latter will take three to five months, says the Navy spox Dmytro Pletenchuk.

He says the global demining operation could last for several years, as now they are facing weapons from the First and Second World Wars.

Special drones are being used to clear the sea, the navy spokesman noted.

"We are in constant dialogue with our foreign partners on this issue and work in this area is ongoing – as is training, as is gaining experience, as is the process itself."

Previously, Norway and the United Kingdom have joined forces to support Ukraine by forming a maritime coalition. The new association will supply ships and other vehicles to Ukrainian troops for combat operations at sea.

Three NATO countries, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, will sign an agreement in January on joint mine clearance of their Black Sea areas.

As part of the Triple Initiative, a Turkish-led effort to combat mine threats in the Black Sea, the 3rd round of the Black Sea Mine Action Task Force meeting was held with delegations from Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.