ST. PETERSBURG. May 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Navy command has accomplished rotation of the inter-fleet unit permanently deployed in the Mediterranean Sea last December, a knowledgeable source in the Navy staff told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"Large landing ships of the Baltic Fleet - the Kaliningrad, the Alexander Shabalin and the Azov - arrived in the Novorossiysk naval base today upon the end of their Mediterranean mission. A Pacific Fleet unit led by the Admiral Panteleyev large anti-sub ship replaced them in the Mediterranean Sea in the inter-fleet unit rotation," the source said.
The Kaliningrad, the Alexander Shabalin and the Azov will stay in Novorossiysk for several weeks to receive maintenance, he said.
The ships will replenish freshwater, fuel and food reserves and sailors will take rest, he said.
"Upon the end of the Novorossiysk stay, the ships will go back to the Mediterranean Sea. They will visit the Syrian Tartous port - the location of a Russian Navy logistic base - if necessary.