MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Traces of explosives have been found on board a cargo ship sailing from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don to pick up a load of grain, the press office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS on Monday.
"On July 22, traces of explosives - dinitrotoluene and tetryl - were found in the hold of a foreign cargo ship sailing from Turkey to the port of Rostov-on-Don to pick up a load of grain. Signs of outside tampering with the cargo vessel’s structural elements were also identified," the FSB press office reported.
According to the FSB, in late May the ship was docked in Ukraine’s Danube River port of Kiliya. In July, it was located in the Turkish port of Tuzla, where the ship’s crew was replaced entirely by a new crew, consisting of 12 Ukrainian citizens, and the vessel was renamed. "The abovementioned circumstances indicate that a foreign civilian ship may possibly have been used to deliver explosives to the territory of Ukraine," the FSB said.
The press office said that traces of explosives were discovered during a monitoring inspection carried out by the FSB on vessels passing through the Kerch Strait to prevent terrorist and sabotage actions and ensure the safety of navigation. "It was decided to bar the vessel from passing under the arch of the Kerch Strait crossing and prohibit its further departure for waters beyond the territorial sea of the Russian Federation," the press office added.