Russian media write that a military ship from Romania, which is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, exploded in the Black Sea on a “Ukrainian” mine. Like, this is the first case after the start of the so-called special operation. Allegedly, the Ukrainians randomly installed mines in the Black Sea “in panic and fear”. This is not true.

In fact, according to StopFake, the Romanian minesweeper Locotenent Dimitrie Nicolescu exploded on a drifting mine which was being tried to neutralize in the Black Sea. The crew, consisting of 75 people, was not injured by the explosion and safely arrived at the military port of Konstantsa. The ship needs to be repaired at the shipyard.

There is no evidence that the mine on which the Romanian minesweeper blew up was left by the Ukrainian military. On the contrary, Ukraine, together with other countries, is engaged in clearing mines in the western part of the Black Sea. After the Russian invasion on February 24, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine destroyed 28 such mines in the Black Sea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that these are sea mines, which at the beginning of 2022 were not registered with the Ukrainian Naval Forces. These mines were captured by the Russian armed forces in 2014 during the invasion and temporary occupation of Sevastopol.

Thus, Russia resorts to provocations and discrediting Ukraine in front of international partners. Previously, propagandists accused Ukraine of blocking foreign ships in ports.