MOSCOW – About 20 ships are returning to their permanent deployment areas after participating in the joint maneuvers of the Novorossiysk naval bases and Russia-occupied Crimea, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet spokesperson Alexei Rulyov said.
“Diversified forces of the Black Sea Fleet comprised missile and anti-submarine ships, submarines, mine-sweeping forces, auxiliary ships and rescue vessels have concluded a joint exercises and set course for their home bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk,” Rulyev said.
About 20 surface vessels and support ships were at sea during the exercise, as well as aircraft and helicopters of the naval aviation and the air defense force of the Black Sea Fleet, he said.
The Black Sea Fleet’s maneuvers took place amid the Rapid Trident 2021 exercise in Ukraine with the United States’ participation which started on Sept. 20 and will end on Oct. 1. About 6,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Turkey and Poland, among other countries, are involved in it.
“During the joint exercise of the Crimea and Novorossiysk naval bases of the Black Sea Fleet, the ship crews, as part of homogenous and diversified tactical forces, drilled the algorithms of sea warfare involving surface vessels of a simulated enemy, performed a sole or joint missile and artillery firing, conducted a set of exercises in minesweeping, detecting and destroying a submarine and conducted a special exercise to protect facilities of the naval economic activity of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea,” Rulyov said.
According to him, as part of the exercise, the Bastion coastal missile systems successfully hit sea targets acting as simulated enemy ships.
retired Adm. Viktor Kravchenko, former chief of staff of the Russian Navy, told Interfax on Sept. 23 that the exercises in Crimea using the Bastion missile systems is a sign to NATO.
“Ships of the U.S., the UK and other NATO member states have been coming to the Black Sea too often. It is our signal to NATO,” Kravchenko said, commenting on the exercise involving Bastion launches.
In June, Russian military and border guards fired warning shots in the path of HMS Defender that as Moscow claims violated the Russian “border” off Cape Fiolent (Crimea) in the Black Sea.
