The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed to the ambassador of Türkiye the concern of the Ukrainian Side in connection with the available information regarding the passage of the Sparta II ship chartered by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation from Syria to Russia through the Bosphorus Strait.

The ship was carrying the S-300PMU-2 missile system.

The statement was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

On August 29, 2022, Ambassador of Türkiye to Ukraine Yagmur Ahmet Guldere was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi handed him a verbal note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

It is noted that Tochytskyi drew the attention of the Ambassador of Türkiye to the fact that, according to the provisions of the Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits of July 20, 1936, the specified vessel falls under the definition of a warship for the purposes of this Convention.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine requested the Turkish side to provide official information regarding the cargo that was transported by the ship “Sparta II” through the Bosphorus Strait.

In addition, Ukraine wants to receive information about the measures taken by Türkiye in order to fulfill the provisions of the Montreux Convention.

The statement says that the Deputy Minister Tochytskyi “expressed the hope that the Turkish side will strictly adhere to its decision of February 28, 2022 to close the Black Sea straits for Russian warships.”

As previously reported, on August 28, Russia redeployed S-300 SAM systems from Syria to Black Sea.

.@USTreasury designated [UKRAINE-EO13685], @mod_russia owned Oboronlogistika's, civilian crewed Russian flag roro Sparta II transited Bosphorus towards Med en route from #Tartus #Syria to Novorossiysk carrying military cargo. @egetulca pic.twitter.com/fsGlSfz4i8

— Yörük Işık (@YorukIsik) August 27, 2022

Information about this was reported by OSINT researchers who discovered the movement of the Russian system from the place of deployment to the port of Tartus. From there, the Sparta II ship moved to the Bosphorus and passed through the strait.

It is not known exactly where the Russians sent their air defense system, but the fact of passage through the Bosphorus, which is closed to warships, was recorded.