‘It’s like a computer game or fireworks, but more difficult’ – meet the Ukrainians learning to hunt mines in the English Channel

The UK Royal Navy is teaching dozens of Ukrainian sailors how to neutralise Russian naval mines

Ukrainian sailors are being trained in how to clear mines off the coast of Britain.

Some names have been changed or omitted to protect identities

It’s part of ‘Operation Maritime Interflex,’ a military programme to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

LBC has been granted rare access to a special exercise on board one of the Ukrainian Navy minehunter ships.

Over the course of more than nine hours, Ukrainian crew members – overseen by Royal Navy staff – test and fire the mine-neutralisation system.

First, an unmanned underwater vehicle – with a light and camera – is sent down for surveillance. Through a long fibre optic cable, video is beamed up live to the ship’s operations room, where sailors can steer the device along the sea floor.

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Once they’re located a mine, a secondary kamikaze drone is deployed with explosives to eliminate the danger.

“It doesn’t quite ‘detonate’ the mine. The better way to describe it would be that it’s designed to pierce its casing and essentially flood the senses,” says Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer Smith.

“The whole thing is a careful process,” he explains. “Mine warfare is probably the slowest warfare. There are a lot of checks. It’s all about procedure. It’s all about making sure that everything is done in an order so that when it comes to actually firing a round, it goes bang.”

In the operations room, Illia, 22, from southern Ukraine, says this training is “going to help” his country. “This is the first successful run for the ship. And in the future, this ship is going to destroy more and more mines, hopefully in the Black Sea.”

Lieutenant Commander James, a Royal Navy officer and bomb disposal specialist, says that whilst this drill is to detect dummy mines in the English Channel, “the provision of this training allows the Ukrainian servicemen to go back to the Black Sea to clear it of real explosive threats.”

The Black Sea is a key shipping route, which borders Ukraine and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. But it’s also one of the heaviest mined waters in the world, littered with deadly weapons. Last year, three civilians were killed by a sea mine when swimming in the Odessa region.

“There are hundreds of Russian naval mines in the Black Sea. It's certainly up there in the multiples of hundreds, potentially even thousands,” says Lt Commander James.

“And we're talking about everything from a big metal ball with spikes – that's a classic type of mine, those things still exist in the Black Sea – to a lot more modern influence ordnance, so large lumps of explosives that sit on the seabed with sensors that can be set to a certain magnetic signature. There’s some very high-tech stuff that requires a slightly different way of approaching it.”

In the past year, maritime trade in the Black Sea has ground to a near standstill, with multiple merchant ships and cargo vessels struck by aerial and naval drones. It means large quantities of grain, corn and crude oil remain idle.

Russia and Ukraine also account for roughly a quarter of the world’s wheat exports, and analysts estimate their combined exports are down 60 per cent from last year.

“If you talk about global trade, the influence that the UK can have to help Ukraine open up their waters and make that trade easier is of high value,” says Lt Commander James.

To assist, the Royal Navy transferred two decommissioned mine-hunting warships to the Ukrainians. Both are now named after cities in Ukraine.

However, the warships cannot enter the Black Sea during the current conflict, with Turkey blocking passage under a 90-year-old convention regulating the movement of military vessels.

“During times of war, the Turks essentially become the gatekeepers of the Black Sea,” explains Lt Commander James. “So the ships can't go back yet until there is some kind of peace deal or ceasefire.”

Put simply: Ukrainian service members are preparing for something they can’t actually do until the fighting eases.

The irony is not lost on Sub Lieutenant Max, Executive Officer of UNS Cherkasy.

“The Black Sea is a very difficult situation,” he tells me. “There is some mine-hunting there, being done by small ships. Big ones like this are targets. Small and quick is better than big and slow.”

The 50-metre-long UNS Cherkasy is still temporarily based at His Majesty’s Naval Bases in Portsmouth.

“But being here is not like a holiday or vacation. We are working. It has been very difficult watching the war from afar. Hopefully in the coming months we can go back to Ukraine and help. All our crew wants to go back to Ukraine, but we need to prepare as much personnel as possible here.” “The UK Royal Navy is very developed in terms of its training. It’s a very good opportunity for us. I don't have enough words to say how thankful we are.”