MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The Russian Black Sea Fleet’s small missile ships Serpukhov and Zelyony Dol armed with Kalibr cruise missiles will join the permanent grouping of Russia’s Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, Navy spokesman Nikolai Voskresensky said on Wednesday.
"In the Mediterranean Sea, the Serpukhov and the Zelyony Dol are set to join the permanent operational task force in the distant maritime zone on a planned rotational basis," the officer said.
The Serpukhov and the Zelyony Dol, which left Sevastopol on October 4, are now passing through the Black Sea straits and will enter "the Mediterranean Sea water area" in the evening, the Navy’s spokesman said.
The small missile ships Serpukhov and Zelyony Dol took part in Russia’s anti-terror operation in Syria in mid-August. They fired three Kalibr cruise missiles against Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia).
The Zelyony Dol and the Serpukhov are the fourth and the fifth representatives of the Project 21631 Buyan-M series of small missile ships. They are armed with the Kalibr missile systems, the A-190 100mm gun, the Gibka launchers with Igla antiaircraft missiles and the Duet small-caliber antiaircraft artillery complexes. Both warships joined the Black Sea Fleet in 2015.