The population in the coastal zone near the Ukrainian port of Odesa was warned by the military on Tuesday about sea mines floating along the coast of Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of using sea mines off the Ukrainian coast, putting commercial shipping in the Black Sea at risk.

Soviet-made mines were anchored, but due to the storm, some of them broke away and were swept away by the sea current.

• “There is a high probability of detachment of fixed sea mines and their removal to the shore or drifting along the coast,” – wrote in Telegram the spokesman of the Odesa military administration, Serhii Bratchuk.
• “Since last March, Russia has continued to use moored anti-ship mines as an unguided weapon against Ukraine,” Bratchuk said in a separate video message.

After the invasion of Ukraine by its troops on February 24 last year, Russia blocked the ports in the Odesa region, the main loading point for Ukrainian grain for export.

At the end of July, the blockade of three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea was lifted on the basis of an agreement concluded in Turkey by Moscow and Kyiv with the mediation of the UN, reminds Agerpres. From then until the end of January, Ukraine exported more than 17 million tons of grain through the transit corridor, reports the Union of Ukrainian Grain Producers UGA.

The UGA noted that in January 2023, the export of agricultural products “significantly decreased as a result of deliberate delays in the inspection of ships by Russia.” Moscow rejected the accusations.

Ukraine’s grain exports in the 2022-2023 season, which ends in June, fell 28.7 percent to 29.2 million tons, according to data released Monday by Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry, due to logistical difficulties caused by the Russian invasion and reduced production. . .