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US Ship Has Lucky Escape from WWII Mine in Sevastopol
A World War II mine was discovered and safely destroyed Thursday in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Sevastopol near a U.S. Navy destroyer, officials reported.
The German-made mine, weighting 300 kg and containing up to 100 kg of TNT, was found drifting in the sea on Wednesday. Experts stopped the mine from floating and later took it about 1.5 kilometers offshore where it was destroyed, Ukrainian Navy spokesman Vladimir Martynyuk told reporters late Thursday. Nearby streets were cordoned off, and all shipping was halted when the mine was destroyed.
The report came as a U.S. destroyer called at Sevastopol for drills with the Ukrainian navy. The ship was less than 500 meters from the mine when it was discovered.
A similar incident occurred in Sevastopol in 2004 when a 960-kg German ground mine was discovered in a densely populated neighborhood, prompting the evacuation of 30,000 people from the area.
The Crimea was the site of heavy fighting during World War II, and many unexploded ground mines, shells and depth bombs are still discovered in the Black Sea every year. In 2006, 14 anchor mines and other and dangerously explosive objects were found in Russian Black Sea ports alone.
www.kommersant.com
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