SEVASTOPOL. Oct 8 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Black Sea Fleet is about to round up preparations for two long-range sea voyages, the first of which starts in mid-October, a spokesman for the fleet headquarters said on Tuesday.
"A vessel unit comprising the Moskva guard missile cruiser under command of Guard Colonel Alexander Scherbitsky and the Pytlivy escort ship under command of Captain Oleg Krivorog will leave the Black Sea through the Bosporus Straits in mid-October sailing under the flag of Black Sea Fleet Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Yevgeny Orlov. The unit is planning to make business visits to the Syrian port of Latakia and the French Navy base of Toulon," the spokesman told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The second Mediterranean voyage will be performed by the Yamal large landing craft under command of Colonel Igor Gavrish. The vessel will sail under the flag of Black Sea Fleet Deputy Commander for Armament Rear Admiral Alexander Kovshar, the spokesman said.
The Yamal is to touch at the Greek ports of Corfu and Pylos and the Croatian port of Split.
The Ivan Bubnov sea-going tanker, which is also getting ready for the voyage, will provide fuel, water and other necessary commodities to the warships in the Mediterranean Sea. The tanker's crew under command of Stanislav Plotnitsky has practiced in fueling warships in the Black Sea. The fleet's deputy commander Vice Admiral Yevgeny Orlov and chief-of-staff of the fleet's rear Colonel Viktor Volynsky visited the tanker on Monday to make sure that it is ready for putting out to sea.
The Black Sea Fleet has never sent so many ships to the Mediterranean Sea in its contemporary history, the spokesman said.