MOSCOW 

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Thursday that at least 10 mines planted by the Ukrainian Navy in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov were swept away by the wind, warning that the location of some of them is unknown.

Speaking at a daily briefing in Moscow, Konashenkov responded to an accusation made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his virtual speech to parliamentarians in Norway that Russia had mined Ukrainian ports to prevent foreign ships from entering the country.

Konashenkov stressed that Zelenskyy does not have accurate information on this issue.

“In the period from Feb. 25 to March 4 in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, minesweeping forces of the Ukrainian Navy laid about 420 naval anchor mines of the outdated design of the YAM-1 type, 370 of them in the Black Sea and 50 in the Sea of Azov," he said.

Due to storms and the insufficient technical situation, around 10 mines broke off from where they were attached and drifted with the course of the winds and currents, he noted.

One Ukrainian mine was found in Romanian territorial waters, while another mine was discovered and neutralized by Turkish sailors, he added.

"No one knows where the remaining Ukrainian mines are today," he stated, emphasizing that the mines pose a threat to all Black Sea countries' transport and cargo ships.

- Ukraine blamed

According to Konashenkov, the Ukrainian administration forcibly held 68 ships belonging to Turkiye, China, Switzerland, Greece, Malta, Panama, the Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, the Comoros Archipelago, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Denmark and Syria in the ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa, Mykolaiv and Yuzhny.

Noting that Russia opens a safe corridor for these ships to leave Ukrainian territorial waters in the southwest between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day, he claimed that during radio conversations, the crews of the detained ships stated that any exit of a foreign vessel from ports is prohibited by Ukrainian authorities under the threat of immediate sinking.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK among others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,232 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,935 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, with millions more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.