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International ‘Maritime Cooperation’ drills kick off in China

The Russian and Chinese sailors will train to carry out joint maneuvers and establish communication and carry out missile and artillery attacks against sea and air targets

Varyag missile cruiser Yuri Smityuk/TASS

Varyag missile cruiser

© Yuri Smityuk/TASS

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Bilateral Russian-Chinese naval drills "Maritime Cooperation" opened on Monday at the port of Qingdao, the press service of the Pacific Fleet reported.

"A group of Pacific Fleet ships consisting of the flagship Guards Order of Nakhimov missile cruiser Varyag, the large anti-tank ships Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Tributs, the corvette Sovershenny, the large landing ship Oslyabya, the rescue vessel Igor Belousov and the sea tanker Irkut arrived at the port of Qingdao on a business call several hours ago, and the official opening ceremony for the bilateral Russian-Chinese naval drills ‘Maritime Cooperation 2019’ was carried out. <...> After the end of the official part of the ceremony the commanders of the ship groups of the two countries received orders for actions at sea," the press service reported.

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The ceremony was carried out at the headquarters of China’s People's Liberation Army Navy. It involved Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Alexander Vitko and Deputy Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy Vice Admiral Qiu Yanpeng, who are operating the drills. The shore part of the maneuvers will be carried out on April 29 and 30, while the ships will train actions at sea on May 1-4.

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