Nikolai Patrushev, Chairman of the Maritime Council

Nikolai Patrushev, Chairman of the Maritime Council, stated that merchant ships carrying magnetic mines attached to their hulls regularly enter Russian ports.

Consensus

• Merchant ships regularly enter Russian ports with magnetic mines attached to their hulls
• The mines are detected and neutralized by Russian authorities
• There are suspicions that the mines are placed in European ports
• The Russian government is concerned about potential preemptive strikes by Western countries on Russian naval bases
• The Russian Navy needs to maintain combat readiness
• The Russian FSB, along with other agencies, has prevented terrorist attacks involving explosive devices on ships

Points of divergence

• The mines are placed in European ports — kommersant
• The mines are suspected to be produced in a NATO country — vedomosti
• A specific ship, 'Arkhengelsk', was targeted in a terrorist attempt in Ust-Luga port — vedomosti
• More than 500 explosive devices were prevented from being smuggled into Russia from Ukraine — vedomosti