MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Black Sea Fleet ships will continue executing tasks in the Mediterranean Sea next year as part of the permanent naval task force, the fleet's spokesman Vyacheslav Trukhachyov told Interfax.
"Among the core tasks the Black Sea Fleet is to address in 2018 are ensuring new ships' entry into the Fleet's servics, as well as mission execution by the Fleet's ships and vessels as part of the navy's permanent task force in the Mediterranean Sea," Trukhachyov said.
The tasks were outlined at an expanded meeting of the fleet's military council.
The attendees heard reports on the results of combat training in 2017, logistics support, equipment and weapon maintenance, and ensuring law and order and army discipline.
Speaking before the military council, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Alexander Vitko, thanked military unit and formation personnel and employees and workers of the Fleet's enterprises for doing their job, noting that "over the course of the training year, the Fleet's ships and vessels completed over 20 deployments and inter-fleet passages."
"Black Sea Fleet forces were on continuous deployment as part of the Russian Navy's permanent task force in the Mediterranean Sea. During remote deployments, the crews of the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen frigates and of the Krasnodar, Velikiy Novgorod and Kolpino submarines fired Kalibr cruise missiles against terrorist targets in the Syrian Arab Republic," Vitko was quoted by Trukhachyov as saying.
The Fleet also selected the best ships, submarines, coastal and aviation units of the year.
Towards the end of the event, a number of servicemen received state and departmental awards from the Russian Defense Ministry.
The meeting was chaired by the Black Sea Fleet commander and attended by federal and regional officials, Southern Military District deputy commander Lieut. Gen. Andrei Gurulev, the Fleet's heads of commands, departments, services, formations and military units, and their deputies for liaising with personnel.