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Russia’s latest minesweeper passes through Black Sea straits in Mediterranean deployment

After the warship passes through the Black Sea straits, it will join the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean Squadron, according to the Black Sea Fleet

Ivan Antonov minesweeper Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

Ivan Antonov minesweeper

© Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

SEVASTOPOL, January 16. /TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet’s latest minesweeper Ivan Antonov is transiting the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits in its deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.

"For the ship’s crew, this is the first deployment to the long-distance maritime zone after it was accepted for service in the Black Sea Fleet," the press office said in a statement.

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After the warship passes through the Black Sea straits, it will join the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean Squadron, the statement says.

The base-type minesweeper Ivan Antonov is the third built and the second serial-produced ship of this class. The contract for its construction was signed with Russia’s Defense Ministry in April 2014. It was laid down at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg in northwestern Russia on January 25, 2017 and floated out on April 25, 2018. The latest mine countermeasures ship was delivered to the Russian Navy on January 26, 2019.

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