Ukrainian Navy to create a mine countermeasures division

The Ukrainian Navy is planning to create a full-fledged mine countermeasures division.

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesman for the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, shared this on the United News live.

The creation of such a formation, in particular, is required to ensure the safety of civil shipping.

“We are moving forward, and as for further prospects, the creation of a full mine countermeasures division is now being discussed, because one of our main tasks is to ensure the safety of civil shipping in the waters of our seas,” he says, underlining that mine countermeasures is one of the priorities.

The Navy already has two minehunters taking part in Exercise Sea Breeze, the spokesman said.

It regards Sandown-class minehunters “Chernihiv” and “Cherkasy,” now temporarily located in the UK.

“And we hope that we will have at least four units of these. We expect two more ships from the Netherlands,” said Pletenchuk.

He noted that mine clearance was carried out constantly: “We have a mobile mine clearance team, which constantly takes care of those ammunition that fall into the visibility zone, in the coastal zone, or those that throw ashore. As well as underwater.”

A spokesman for the Navy noted that a full-fledged mine clearance operation was a very complex operation that required a number of favorable factors, first of all, the cessation of hostilities.

According to the Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksii Neizhpapa, “Chernihiv” and “Cherkasy” will be the first to take part in mine clearance operations in the Black Sea and the release of the sea from mines to protect civilian shipping.

He added that the Sandown-class minehunter, which the Ukrainian Navy had received under the agreement between Ukraine and the United Kingdom, were partially modernized and would serve for many years in the Ukrainian fleet.

In turn, the Netherlands will transfer two Alkmaar-class minesweepers to Ukraine for mine disposal. The Ukrainian Navy is expected to receive these ships in 2025.