6 formations of Pacific Fleet in Sea of Okhotsk preparing for new tasks during combat check

Six different formations of the Russian Pacific Fleet “arrived in the designated area of the Sea of Okhotsk and began the dispersion for further fulfilment of the training combat tasks” during a large-scale check of combat readiness in the Eastern Military District, the press service and information department of the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Sunday. At the stage of sea crossing the warships conducted an air defence drill, anti-submarine and minesweeping defence drills, joint manoeuvres and a liaison drill, and the knowledge of the navigation characteristics of the area was checked. In particular, “the warships fulfilled successfully the task to search for and find submarines in interaction with anti-submarine warplanes Tu-142 and Il-38 of marine aviation of the Pacific Fleet,” the Defence Ministry explained. “According to the common scenario the ship drills were conducted over the struggle for survival and medical support to the actions of the crews. The onboard systems of radioelectronic weapons are maintaining the nonstop long-range and short-range coverage of the air and water surface situation,” the department reported. The Pacific Fleet formations include the guards missile-carrying cruiser Varyag, big submarine chasers Marshal Shaposhnikov and Admiral Vinogradov, big landing ships Oslyabya and Nikolai Vilkov, the destroyer Bystry, small anti-submarine ships, missile-carrying cutters and logistic support vessels, the Defence Ministry noted. “The technical equipment and weapons of the warships function in the routine mode. The crews are on duty in the regime of march,” the ministry reported. The aviation of the third Command of the Air Force and the Air Defence Troops of the Eastern Military District “are covering the actions to redeploy and deploy the troops at the firing ranges in the Amur Region, the Primorsky Territory, the Baikal Region and on the Sakhalin Island,” the press service and information department of the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Sunday. “The total numerical strength of the troops involved in the combat readiness check of the troops makes over 160,000 servicemen, about 1,000 tanks and combat armoured vehicles, 130 warplanes and helicopters of long-range, military transport, fighter, bombing and army aviation, as well as 70 warships and vessels of the Navy,” the department noted. The fifth tank brigade of the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District, which is deployed in Ulan-Ude, should go on a combined march to the firing range Tsugol in the Chita Region. The command posts of the 36th Army and the 11th Airborne Brigade, the 75th command brigade and the 102nd logistic support brigade are also on a march in Tsugol from Ulan-Ude. Meanwhile, the 37th separate motorized brigade, which is deployed in the town Kyakhta, Buryatia, is on a march to the firing range Burduny in the Kyakhta district. President Vladimir Putin ordered at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu last Friday to begin a sudden combat check in the Eastern Military District overnight to July 13. A sudden combat check of the Eastern Military District will last for a week and will end on July 20, the Russian Defence Ministry noted.