Turkish teams defuse another mine in Black Sea

ANKARA: The Turkish Defence Ministry said that underwater demolition teams disabled another mine in the Black Sea -- the fourth such incident since the start of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on February 24.

The mine was detected off the coast of the Kiyikoy district in the northwestern province of Kirklareli and teams from the Underwater Defence were dispatched to the scene, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Wednesday.

"The mine has been secured and defused by the teams," it noted.

In April, Turkey detected three mines in the waters of the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea.

The Turkish navy and its mine-hunting vessels are monitoring the Black Sea for stray mines, according to the Ministry.

The Ukrainian navy had deployed mines near the ports of Odesa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny since the start of the war, Russia had said in March.

However, Ukraine has refuted the claim.