Missile cruiser to join Russian warships in Mediterranean

Three warships will join the Russian Navy's permanent operational group in the Mediterranean in the next few days. One is the Black Sea Fleet's Project 1164 Atlant class missile cruiser Moskva, which has passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and is heading for the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian Defence Ministry's press service told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. The missile cruiser Moskva, the large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov and the guard ship Smetlivy will join the naval group at sea from September 15 to 17. The Moskva passed Gibraltar on September 10 and is on its way to the eastern part of the Mediterranean to join the warships. The cruiser is expected to arrive at the area on September 17, the press service said. Nikolai Filchenkov and Smetlivy will pass the Bosphorus-Dardanelles strait zone from September 12 to 14 and head for the eastern Mediterranean. In the permanent operational group of the Russian Navy now at sea are the large landing ships Peresvet, Admiral Nevelsky, Minsk, Novocherkassk, Alexander Shabalin, the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev and the guard ship Neustrashimy. They are undertaking tasks based on plans of the operational command in the zone. Command staff are aboard the Admiral Panteleyev. Earlier Wednesday, landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov of Russia's Black Sea Fleet left the port of Novorossiisk and headed for the Bosporus-Dardanelles strait. After passing through the zone, the ship will head for the Syrian port of Tartus, where a Russian naval technical support facility is located, a source at the Novorossiisk naval base told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.