‘Mariupol’ and ‘Melitopol’ Join Ukrainian Navy Minesweeper Group in UK

Two recently transferred minesweepers, ‘Mariupol’ and ‘Melitopol’, have joined Ukraine’s Navy surface group at the British port of Portland.

The photo of the four vessels was posted by Instagram user justynayton.

The ships, donated by Belgium and the Netherlands and handed over on June 27, 2025, join the previously transferred ‘Chernihiv’ and ‘Cherkasy’, forming a group of four minesweepers.

The current surface fleet consists of two British-designed Sandown-class vessels — ‘Chernihiv’ and ‘Cherkasy’ — and two Tripartite-class (Alkmaar subclass) ships — ‘Mariupol’ and ‘Melitopol’.

The UK transferred the two Sandown-class ships to Ukraine in summer 2023. Formerly HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham, they were decommissioned from the Royal Navy in 2021 and 2022. Following modernization and crew training, they were officially handed over in Glasgow on July 2, 2023, and renamed ‘Chernihiv’ (M310) and ‘Cherkasy’ (M311).

Militarnyi previously reported that the British defense industry was upgrading sonar systems on Ukraine’s two Sandown-class vessels. The Sonar 2093 Wideband systems, originally developed in the 1980s, are being modernized to improve detection of mines at various depths.