Large-scale naval exercises in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, in which three Project 1164 Atlant missile cruisers took part, became a formidable warning for NATO. We are talking about the ships "Marshal Ustinov", "Varyag" and "Moscow".
This is the opinion of military columnist Robert Farley, who writes about it in his article for 19FortyFive. Although the cruisers were built back in the 80s, in recent years Russia has modernized and repaired all three ships of the 1164 project. They can use anti-ship missiles P-500 "Basalt", specially designed to destroy enemy aircraft carrier groups. Currently, their arsenal includes even more formidable P-1000 Vulcan warheads. But especially the military observer was struck by the appearance of the Russian ships of the 1164 project. He noted that they look very impressive because of the massive launchers.
The expert believes that Russia has withdrawn its missile cruisers to the Black and Mediterranean Seas not only for the sake of exercises, but also to warn NATO about the inadmissibility of provocations or aggressive actions at its own borders.
Svetlana Tsygankova