Royal Navy ships may be sent to Black Sea to clear mines from Russia-Ukraine war

06 September 2023 , 14:06

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Vladimir Putin refused to renew a deal allowing grain exports through the Black Sea (Image: AP)

Royal Navy ships could be sent to the Black Sea to clear mines laid by Russia, an armed forces chief revealed today.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key said British vessels may be deployed to the region where Ukraine and Russia are at war. While NATO vessels are currently avoiding the Black Sea following a request by Turkey, a change in policy could see Royal Navy minesweepers sailing into the waters to help ease an effective blockade hampering grain exports and pushing up food prices, he said.

Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, Sir Ben told military and security experts: “NATO ships are not operating in the Black Sea and one of the reasons for that is really simple - that if they had to grant passage to us then they would have to grant passage to Russian warships as well, and they clearly want to keep the Black Sea Fleet isolated from broader resupply.

“At the moment, whilst we could clearly play a role with our mine countermeasures expertise, that is not one we are being asked to do currently because of the geopolitical position. I don’t criticise that, and I think the reasons for that are good. But clearly, working with our NATO partners in the Eastern Mediterranean, we continue to keep under review the options of where we may - if asked - could go and help and operate, and I don’t rule anything in or out at this stage.”

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key was speaking at the Royal United Services Institute think tank

In July, Britain donated two 600-tonne Sandown-class Navy minesweepers, HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham, to the Ukrainian navy, renaming them Chernigiv and Cherkasi. The Royal Navy announced experts from its Diving and Threat Exploitation Group had been training Ukrainian counterparts on “finding and safely neutralising mines and other explosive devices blighting their land, ensuring that once the war is over, Ukrainian people and the commercial shipping industry can live and operate without fear or risk from explosives”.

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Sir Ben said the “profligate use of mines in the Black Sea in the last 18 months has stopped free movement in large areas, contributing manifestly to the impact of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”. Warning Kyiv’s military faced “a Herculean task” in stripping the Sea of mines, he added: “We are helping support the Ukrainian navy in developing their mine countermeasures' capabilities, because lack of free access to the Black Sea, both today and when this war ends, will continue to threaten the free movement of civilian shipping going about its lawful business and that is having far-reaching ramifications in the cost of energy, goods and the distribution of food.”

Delivering the think tank’s annual Gallipoli Memorial Lecture, Sir Ben blasted the breakdown of a deal between Ukraine and Russia, brokered by Turkey, for grain exports through the Black Sea. “The Black Sea grain initiative brought hope,” he said. “It had huge benefits, especially for those most in need in some of the world’s poorest countries. In 12 months, it enabled the shipping of almost 33 million tonnes of cargo - similar to pre-war levels. Russia’s cynical refusal to renew the initiative means exports have dropped to near zero.”

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Ben Glaze