Traces of explosives were found on board a bulk carrier en route from Türkiye to Rostov-on-Don for grain. It was established that in May this ship was in the Ukrainian port of Kiliya, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia said, Report informs via TASS.
“On July 22, traces of explosives - dinitrotoluene and tetryl - were found in the hold of a foreign dry cargo ship en route from Türkiye to the port of Rostov-on-Don to load grain crops. Signs of third-party interference in the structural parts of the bulk carrier were revealed,” the FSB said.
As the Federal Service noted, it was established that at the end of May, the ship was in the Ukrainian port of Kiliya. In July, in the Turkish port of Tuzla, a complete change of the ship's crew, consisting of 12 citizens of Ukraine, was carried out, and the name of the dry cargo ship was changed. "These circumstances may indicate the possibility of using a foreign civilian ship to deliver explosives to the territory of Ukraine," the FSB said.
Traces of explosives were found during the control and verification carried out by the FSB for ships passing through the Kerch Strait to prevent terrorist and sabotage actions and ensure the safety of navigation. "A decision has been made to ban the passage of the vessel under the navigable arch of the transport crossing through the Kerch Strait with its further departure outside the territorial sea of the Russian Federation," the FSB added.