MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, on Thursday said the danger of mines created by the Kiev government along with the threat of shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces are preventing 67 foreign ships from 15 countries to safely leave the ports of Nikolayev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhny.

"The high danger of mines created by the official Kiev in the internal waters of Ukraine and the territorial sea (minefields were put in place with gross violations of the preparation regulations and without putting them on maps), as well as the threat of shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine of ships that follow the recommended routes, don’t allow them to safely leave the ports of Nikolayev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa, Yuzhny and go to the open sea," he said.

Mizintsev said that 67 foreign ships from 15 countries continue to be blocked in Ukrainian ports. He said Russia isn’t creating any risks to the freedom of civil navigation.