MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. A group of Pacific Fleet ships, which includes the Varyag missile cruiser and the Bystry destroyer, has entered the Sea of Okhotsk, in which it will carry out missile and artillery firing exercises, said the fleet’s spokesman, Captain 2nd rank Nikolai Voskresensky, on Monday.

"A group of Pacific Fleet naval ships, including the Varyag missile cruiser, the Bystry destroyer and the Admiral Tributs, Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Panteleyev large anti-submarine ships, has embarked on the performance of tasks in the Sea of Okhotsk area <...> The ships will carry out joint missile and artillery firing drills at training military ranges as part of scheduled tactical training," Voskresensky said.

"The ships of the fleet’s largest group are expected to interact with the ships and aircraft of the Army and Forces in Northeastern Russia," the officer added.

He specified that while moving from Vladivostok the ships carried out anti-submarine drills, during which they found and tracked an "enemy" submarine with the use of Ka-27 helicopters. The crews also hammered out the group’s air defense, developed joint tactical maneuvering and trained to render help to a vessel "in distress.".