The Black Sea is an important trade route for Ukraine – and at the same time, it is one of the most mined waters in the world. Ukrainian special forces are deployed to make the sea route safer.
The Black Sea: a theater of war, a minefield, and the workplace of Yevhen and his unit. The five men are traveling on a small boat near the coast of Odessa. They belong to a special unit of the Ukrainian Naval Forces and are searching for dangerous objects in the water, explains Commander Yevhen.
"When combat drones fly at night, they are shot down and fall into the sea. Everything accumulates on the ground." Such combat drones, as well as mines laid years ago, reappear due to storms and drift in the sea, said Yevhen. This is dangerous."We have to find and destroy all of this."
Mine detection with German drone
The Black Sea is an important trade route for Ukraine. Ukraine exports large quantities of grain from here on container ships. The corridor for this must be clear of dangerous objects. The marines begin their search for them out at sea with their"fish," which is what they call a roughly two-meter-long red and black underwater drone.
It looks like a small submarine and is made in Germany. The"fish" is given a route. Then it swims off and can independently search a larger area for suspicious objects."The underwater drone will be in operation for about an hour. Then we take it, download the data, and specially trained people analyze it," explains the commander.
Unusual finds on the seabed
Later, other teams can then travel to the objects and examine them again with additional drones. This allows them to determine what they are. If a sea mine is found, it is then defused by divers. But it's not just mines, rocket parts, and drone parts that are found. The Black Sea is full of unusual objects, says a soldier from Yevhen's unit who declined to give his name.
"We find a lot of stuff, all sorts of things. There are places where ships have sunk. For example, we found a Greek amphora, parts of a Greek wooden ship. A lot of things like that. The sea keeps everything with it."
No fear of Russian attacks
An air raid warning is often issued for the region while the minesweepers are out and about. The soldiers don't perceive this as particularly dangerous. They say they're simply too small a target in their boat. And what about the mines in the sea? Couldn't the boat itself hit one?
Helmsman Andriy dismisses this."First of all, mines are usually magnetic, meaning they stick to metal. My boat's hull isn't magnetic. Accordingly, we're not afraid of these mines." Then there are anchor mines that lie at a depth of two meters. But the soldiers' boat only has a draft of 0.8 meters."So I won't go near this mine, and we'll just sail over it," says the helmsman.
Mines from the Second World War in the sea
The exact number of mines in the area is unclear. In the summer of 2024, the Ukrainian Navy estimated that there could be about 400 in the Black Sea. In addition to sea mines, many landmines were washed into the sea when the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed in 2023. These, too, must be removed.
Years, if not decades, of work for the Navy, Commander Yevhen believes:"The Black Sea is one of the most heavily mined waters today. Even after World War II, little was done in the area of war clearance." Even today, they are still finding mines from World War II."And that's only in Ukrainian-controlled territory. Around Crimea, the Russians have dropped everything they have."
Ukraine will need further international support for mine clearance in the Black Sea in the future, says the commander. While modern technology has made it easier, the Ukrainian naval forces cannot remove the quantities lying in the sea on their own.
