MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The Moskva Missile Cruiser, which is the lead ship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has returned to the home base in Sevastopol after a long voyage in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, Fleet spokesman Vyacheslav Trukhachyov said on Tuesday.
During its voyage, the Moskva took part in military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and called at ports of Angola and Equatorial Guinea, he said.
"Early in June, the Moskva cruiser took part jointly with warships of the Black Sea and Baltic Sea Fleets in the Friendship Bridge 2015 drills, the first Russian-Egyptian naval exercises. Later, warships and vessels of the Navy’s permanent grouping in the Mediterranean Sea formed a group of combat ships of the Black Sea Fleet led by the Moskva, the frigate Pytlivy, the salvage tug Shakhtyor and the tanker Ivan Bubnov, which performed missions in the Atlantic," the spokesman said.
The naval squadron held several exercises to practise anti-submarine, anti-ship and air defense of a group of warships.
Kamov Ka-27PS (NATO reporting name: Helix-D) multi-purpose helicopters performed flights from the cruiser Moskva during the military drills, which also practised fuelling of combat ships from a tanker on the move, the escort and protection of civilian vessels against pirates and terrorists.
Also, the crew of the cruiser Moskva conducted missile firing from its main missile system against targets imitating a surface ship, and also against air targets from its Fort air defense missile complex and shipborne artillery guns, the spokesman said.
The cruiser Moskva also took part in the drills of the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean grouping in the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea several days ago, the spokesman said.
