MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax-AVN) - The patrolling of the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean by the Russian Black Sea Fleet missile cruiser Moskva has been cancelled, a source with knowledge on the situation told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
"The Moskva cruiser is not leaving anywhere. It's voyage for patrolling the coast of Syria, which was scheduled for June 1, has been canceled," the source said.
The source said the cruiser has undergone maintenance at a shipbuilding plant in Sevastopol and has fulfilled all course tasks at sea.
"The cancellation of this voyage is not connected to the technical condition of the vessel. The cruiser is fully ready to fulfill its tasks. It should complete missile firing by the end of May. Obviously, the cancellation is somehow connected to the political situation with Syria," the source said.
He recalled that the Russian Black Sea Fleet guard ship Smetlivy and the reconnaissance vessel Kildin are now on combat service in the Mediterranean. The mid-sized sea tanker Iman and the floating maintenance vessel PM-138 are located in the Russian naval logistics station in the Syrian port of Tartus.
According to earlier reports, the voyage of the Black Sea vessel Moskva was expected to last three months. The vessel was expected to fulfill combat tasks off the coast of Syria and take part in an international exercise in the Baltic Sea.
In addition, a firing exercise using the cruiser's main weapon, anti-boat missiles P-1000 Vulkan and the surface-to-air systems S-300F Fort, were expected to take place in the Northern Atlantic.