They were met on the shore by a military band and high-ranking Thai officers.
SATTAHIP /Thailand/, October 21st. /Correspondent of TASS Igor Brovarnik/. The frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, the corvette Gremyashchy and the large marine tanker Boris Butoma of the Pacific Fleet The Russian Navy has arrived at the main Sattahip base of the Royal Thai Navy. A TASS correspondent reports this from the scene.
"It is with great pleasure that we have once again come to the Kingdom of Thailand. We are familiar with everything here, and we will be glad to come to you again and again," said Alexei Ulyanenko, commander of the Pacific Fleet squadron.
The Pacific Fleet ships were met on the shore by a military band and high-ranking Thai officers. According to tradition, phuang malai flower garlands were presented to the Russian sailors as a sign of respect. The business call of the Pacific Fleet ships will take place until October 25. The visit will also include a joint exercise on communications and maneuvering in the territorial waters of the kingdom.
As the Pacific Fleet's press service reported on October 2, the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, the corvette Gremyashchy and the large marine tanker Boris Butoma left Vladivostok to carry out long-range missions in the Asia-Pacific region (APR). In Peter the Great Bay, the ships took on board Ka-27 deck helicopters, and the crews practiced actions to repel attacks by air attack weapons and unmanned enemy boats.
The role of naval diplomacy
The tradition of Russian ships visiting Thailand is more than 160 years old, and it is she who stands at the origins of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In 1863, the ships of the Russian Empire's fleet, the Gaydamak clipper and the Novik corvette, first docked at the mouth of the Chauphraya River, on the banks of which Bangkok stands. The Russian sailors were warmly received by King Mongkut (Rama IV), who considered it important to establish relations with Russia in the context of the colonial encroachments of Great Britain and France. From that moment until 1917, visits by Russian ships to Siam, as Thailand was called until 1949, became a frequent occurrence.
In February 1874, a detachment of ships of Rear Admiral Fyodor Brumer arrived in Siam. At the same time, King Rama V, who ascended the throne in 1868, declared his desire to establish friendly relations with Russia. The next visit of the ships of the Pacific Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Abraham Aslanbegov took place in April 1882. Rama V awarded Russian officers with commemorative medals on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the rule of the Chakri dynasty. At the same time, the exchange of letters between the monarchs of the Russian Empire and Siam was established.
A powerful impetus to the further strengthening of relations between the two countries was given by the visit in March 1891 of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Russian Emperor Nicholas II, who arrived in Bangkok on the cruiser "Memory of Azov". Nikolai Alexandrovich was received by Rama V, and a friendship began between them. The strengthening of interstate relations thanks to the Russian navy and the subsequent visit of Rama V to the Russian Empire in 1897 led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Thais regularly emphasize Russia's role in preserving the country's sovereignty at the end of the 19th century, when Siam was surrounded by colonial empires from the east and west. Thanks to a strong ally, the kingdom managed to preserve its independence and cultural identity.
Then in 1911, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich arrived in Bangkok for the coronation ceremony of King Rama VI on the cruiser Aurora. The last official visit of the ship of the Russian Imperial Navy "Askold" took place in 1914. After the overthrow of the monarchy in Russia and during the existence of the USSR, warships did not enter Thai ports. For the first time in modern history, a Russian warship (the Varshavyanka submarine) arrived in Thailand at the Sattahip base in November 1997.
About the ships of the detachment
Marshal Shaposhnikov was launched in January 1985 at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad as a large anti-submarine ship of Project 1155. In 2016, it was repaired and upgraded in Vladivostok at the Dalzavod Ship Repair Center. During the modernization, Marshal Shaposhnikov was reclassified into a frigate and received modern Kalibr-NK and Uran attack missile systems. After testing, the frigate returned to the Pacific Fleet on April 27, 2021.
The lead corvette of project 20385 "Gremyashchy" was built at the Severnaya Verf plant. The St. Andrew's flag was raised in December 2020. The ship arrived at the main base of the Pacific Fleet on November 30, 2021, along with the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Volkhov submarines.
The large marine tanker Boris Butoma is a tanker for the integrated supply of Pacific Fleet ships. It was built according to the project of 1559 (code "Sea space") at the Baltic Shipyard. It was put into operation on October 30, 1978.
