MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax) - Submarines, ships, and units of the Northern Fleet's Army Corps have now returned to base from a largescale exercise in the Arctic, the Northern Fleet said in a statement on Thursday.
The fleet said on Wednesday that the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Finland deployed ships and aircraft to monitor the Russian exercise in the Arctic zone.
"The submarines and surface ships, including the flagship - the Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser - and units from the formation of the Northern Fleet's Army Corps that took part in the joint exercise with the Arctic expedition group in the Barents Sea and the Murmansk region have now returned to base. A few ships remain at sea for scheduled combat training and combat duty," the statement said.
According to the press service for the Northern Fleet, servicemen and hardware of motorized infantry formations, air defense forces, and the missile and artillery brigade have returned from the exercise.
The Northern Fleet exercise was held at the same time as the Zapad 2021 Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise that involved about 200,000 troops. The Northern Fleet exercise was conducted by up to 8,000 troops, about 800 pieces of combat and special hardware, about 120 aircraft, and up to 50 warships and supply vessels.