DZHANKOI /Republic of Crimea/, November 29. /TASS/. The fourth battalion of S-400 air defense missile systems has assumed combat duty in Crimea near the Russian-Ukrainian border, the Black Sea Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.

"Today, the combat teams of S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems from a large air defense unit of the Southern Military District’s Air Force and Air Defense Army have assumed combat duty to provide for Crimea’s air defense," the press office said in a statement.

The S-400 crews moved to their positions, deployed launchers, determined their location and guidance on the ground and started detecting and tracking targets in their combat mission on Thursday for the Crimean Peninsula’s air defense.

As was reported earlier, the third S-400 battalion assumed combat duty in Crimea’s Yevpatoria in September to protect the Russian airspace. The similar air defense missile systems went on combat duty in Feodosiya in January 2017 and in Sevastopol in January 2018 to protect the Russian airspace in Crimea.

The S-400 Triumf mobile multi-channel air defense missile system is designed to defend vital military facilities and infrastructural installations and features better capabilities compared to its S-300PM predecessor.

Russia’s S-400 Triumf is the latest medium-and long-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.