The missile corvette
Orekhovo-Zuyevo is expected to join the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean
taskforce already by Tuesday evening.
SEVASTOPOL, April 21.
/TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet’s missile corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo has started
transiting the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to join the Russian Navy’s
Mediterranean taskforce, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.
"The ship’s crew
is making a planned transit from Sevastopol to the Mediterranean Sea. During
the transit, the ship’s crew accomplished a set of shipborne combat drills at
the Fleet’s combat training ranges in the Black Sea," the press office
said in a statement.
The missile corvette
Orekhovo-Zuyevo is expected to join the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean
taskforce already by Tuesday evening, the statement says.
The Orekhovo-Zuyevo
is the seventh Project 21631 ‘Buyan-M’ small missile ship. Project 21631
Buyan-M-class small missile ships feature increased water displacement and are
equipped with the latest Kalibr-NK standardized precision missile system
designated to strike naval and coastal targets.
Russian Navy’s
Mediterranean Squadron
The Soviet Navy’s 5th
Mediterranean Squadron served as a prototype for the Russian Navy’s permanent
Mediterranean taskforce operating at present. The 5th operational Soviet
Squadron dealt with the tasks of naval presence in the Mediterranean theater of
operations during the Cold War period. Its main rival was the US Navy’s 6th
Fleet. The Soviet Squadron was disbanded on December 31, 1992, a year after the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In 2013, Russia
started to create a new operational Mediterranean taskforce. Russia’s new permanent
Squadron is dealing with planned and urgent combat missions arising in the
Mediterranean theater of operations, including warding off threats to Russia’s
national and military security.
Source: ITAR-TASS
21-04-2020
