British intelligence says Russia plans to mine Ukraine's new grain corridor

Declassified British intelligence data indicate that Russia may continue to attack civilian ships carrying grain from Ukraine and mine the coastal zone of Ukrainian ports. As explained by the UK Ministry of Defense, by publishing this information, London seeks to reveal Russia's tactics and prevent possible incidents.

The British military believes that Russia is unlikely to openly attack civilian vessels. Instead, Moscow could launch a strike and blame it on Ukraine.

The United Kingdom now has all the intelligence and monitoring tools at its disposal to monitor Russian military activities in the Black Sea.

Since its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia has damaged 130 port infrastructure facilities in Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Reni, and destroyed nearly 300,000 tons of grain, according to London.

"This is more than the total amount that Russia has promised to donate to African states, and enough to feed more than 1.3 million people for a year," the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

During the period of the grain deal, about 4.2 million tons of agricultural products were exported from Black Sea ports per month.

As much as 24 million tons of food products risk not reaching world markets next year if Kyiv fails to find alternative export routes, British authorities say.

Grain exports by sea resumed in the fall, with the first 10 ships using a corridor that Ukraine began building amid Russian threats to sink ships heading to Ukrainian ports.

The new route runs in the northwest of the Black Sea, along the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO countries.

Background. As a reminder, the British Defense Secretary declared Russia's "functional defeat" in the Black Sea.