Detachments of warships of the Pacific, Northern and Black Sea fleets of Russia, together with anti-submarine aircraft of the Il-38 naval aviation, conducted an exercise in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This was announced on February 20 by the Ministry of Defense.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, the main tasks during the exercise were "the search and continuous tracking of the submarine of a conditional enemy, the exchange of data on the maneuvering of the target, as well as the development of the use of aviation weapons of destruction."
It is noted that the missile cruisers "Varyag" and "Marshal Ustinov", frigates "Admiral of the Fleet Kasatonov", "Admiral Grigorovich" took part in the exercise, among others.
In addition, the large anti-submarine ships Admiral Tributs and Vice Admiral Kulakov and other ships became participants in working out various tasks.
In the period from February 15 to February 25, 2022, a naval exercise is being held in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov.
Earlier, on February 17, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Syria, where he inspected the course of exercises of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.
In addition, at the logistics support point (MTO) The Russian IMF in the Syrian port of Tartus Shoigu inspected the ship repair complex of the Black Sea Fleet.
According to the report of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Nikolay Evmenov, more than 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 units of military equipment and about 10,000 military personnel are involved in a series of exercises of the Navy.
Earlier on Wednesday, February 16, Tu-22M3 and MiG-31k long-range aircraft with the Dagger aviation complex arrived at the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Syria to participate in a naval exercise of the Navy's inter-fleet grouping in the eastern Mediterranean. The crews of the Russian Air Force performed a flight from the points of deployment, having overcome more than 1.5 thousand km.
The main focus of the exercises is to work out the actions of the Navy and the Aerospace Forces to protect Russian national interests in the oceans, as well as to counter military threats to the Russian Federation from sea and ocean directions, the Defense Ministry said.
