Mine clearance in Black and Azov Seas will take five years after war is over – Ukraine's Navy

It will take up to five years to clear the mines from the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov after the end of active hostilities.

Source: Dmytro Pletenchuk, Captain, 3rd Class, and a spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: Pletenchuk was asked how long it would take to remove the mines that have been dropped into the Black Sea by the Russians so far if a miracle happened and Russia stopped dropping mines. This was his response.

Quote: "We are planning this large-scale special operation to clear the mines from the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. As of now, a headquarters has been set up, and the operation itself is being planned.

[In the active phase of the operation], the demining of primarily maritime communication routes and trade routes will take 3-5 months, but the global demining operation will take 3-5 years.

And unfortunately, after that, there will still be work to be done in the Black Sea, given that we are even coming across weapons from the First and Second World Wars. So we regret to say that given the extent to which the waters have been mined by the Russian Federation, this work will continue after [the active phase of] the operation."

Details: Regarding the current situation in the Black Sea, Pletenchuk noted that Russia has generally reduced the intensity of its mining. This is primarily due to the counteraction by Ukraine’s Defence and Security Forces. He said the Ukrainian Navy is operating as usual: waiting, monitoring, and periodically conducting mine clearance activities.

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