Russia heavily mines Crimea coastline over fears of Ukrainian landing – military

Russian units in temporarily occupied Crimea are carrying out large-scale mining of the coastline and adjacent waters in an attempt to prevent a possible landing operation by Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

This was reported to Ukrinform by Vladyslav Voloshyn, Spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Forces of the South.

“According to our intelligence, in order to prevent a landing operation by Ukraine’s Defense Forces on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian units stationed there – the so-called Crimea operational-tactical group – are carrying out measures to install mine-explosive barriers along the Crimean coastline using anti-tank and anti-personnel mines,” he said.

According to the spokesperson, the enemy is trying to heavily fortify the shoreline by creating dense minefields and engineering barriers not only on land but also in coastal waters.

“They are trying to mine almost the entire coastline, installing hundreds and even thousands of mines. Beaches are being turned into minefields covered with various wire obstacles, and this concerns not only beaches but also parts of the sea. They are sealing everything off because they are very afraid of a landing in Crimea,” Voloshyn said.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, 206 combat engagements between Ukraine’s Defense Forces and Russian troops were recorded along the frontline on April 19.