Khaberni - The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced today, Saturday, the detection and destruction of 275 suspicious objects in the Black Sea, including 10 mines, 8 suicide drones, and 11 naval suicide vehicles.
The ministry stated in a statement that the Naval Forces Command has continued since March 26, 2022 - following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war - reconnaissance, monitoring, and patrol operations and neutralization of detected mines, drones, and unexploded ordnance as part of ongoing operations and procedures in the Black Sea.
The statement added that a Black Sea mine countermeasures task force was formed under the leadership of Turkey with the participation of Romania and Bulgaria on January 11, 2024, aiming to address the risk of floating mines in the Black Sea during the Russian-Ukrainian war.
It continued "Mine monitoring activities are being conducted within the framework of the Black Sea Harmony operation using two frigates, a submarine, a patrol ship, a maritime patrol aircraft, a helicopter, a drone, two mine detection ships, an attack boat, and three helicopters, a special forces team, and a drone."
The Turkish Ministry of Defense revealed that "During the operations and monitoring conducted so far, a total of 28,150 sailing hours were achieved, and 1,554 aerial sorties were conducted by maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, and drones, totaling 7,711 flight hours."
It elaborated that "275 suspicious objects were detected, including 10 mines, 8 suicide drones, and 11 suicide airborne vehicles, which were destroyed by special forces teams."
