Ukrainian civilian ship blown up by 'unidentified explosive device' in Black Sea

Ukraine has revealed a civilian ship was blown up by an unidentified explosive device in the Black Sea, off the coast of Odesa. The information was confirmed by Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesman for the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a comment to Suspilne.

The ship, which has not been named, sustained only minor damage and was able to continue sailing under its own power. Mr Pletenchuk said: "We can confirm that an explosion of an unidentified explosive object occurred, but the vessel did not suffer significant damage and is proceeding under its own power. There are no casualties among the crew. The vessel is civilian. We confirm the fact, and demining work continues."

Mr Pletenchuk added the Navy carries out regular mine safety operations, and this is the first incident of its kind in two years.

"Measures to maintain mine safety are constantly carried out by the Naval Forces and other relevant units.

"This work is inconspicuous, but it has always been ongoing, and for two years we have not had similar incidents," he said.

He also stressed that while complete safety at sea is difficult to guarantee, the Navy's ongoing efforts have prevented more frequent accidents.

"Despite all this work that we do, it is certainly difficult to guarantee 100% safety. If the Naval Forces did not constantly demine with the forces we already have, there would be tens of times more such cases.

"This year we have already detected and neutralised dozens of such objects, including those from the Second World War," Mr Pletenchuk said.

The blast comes amid wider concerns in the region. In a separate incident, three people were killed on a beach in the Odesa region after reportedly triggering an unknown explosive object while swimming, Ukrainian National News reported.

A sea mine was also recently discovered near the coast and destroyed by a Ukrainian Navy unit in a controlled explosion.