The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has found traces of explosives in a foreign cargo ship en route from Turkey to southern Russia’s port of Rostov-on-Don, Interfax news agency reports.
The FSB claims that it found signs of “third-party interference in the structural parts of the cargo ship”.
The ship was banned from crossing the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Russian special services are now checking other vessels passing through the Kerch Strait.
According to the FSB, the cargo ship in question was bound for Rostov-on-Don to load grain.
The security service has stated that in late May, the ship was docked at the Ukrainian port of Kilia. In July, the ship arrived at the Turkish port of Tuzla, where it changed its name and “completely replaced” its crew of 12 Ukrainian nationals, the FSB added.
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin published an article dubbed “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future”, in which he lambasted the Black Sea grain deal, saying that its conditions were not fulfilled. Putin also claimed that over 200,000 tonnes of mineral fertilisers, which Russia attempted to “supply free of charge to the poorest countries in need”, were blocked in European ports.
