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Admiral Makarov frigate’s crew takes part in Russian Week forum in Corfu

Under the forum’s program, the Russian sailors attended a liturgy at the Church of St. John the Baptist

SEVASTOPOL, September 29. /TASS/. The crew of the Black Sea Fleet’s Admiral Makarov frigate took part in the Russian Week forum’s events during its port call at the Greek island of Corfu, the Fleet said in a statement on Sunday.

"The crew of the Black Sea Fleet’s Admiral Makarov frigate took part in the events of the 17th public forum, The Russian Week, on the Ionic Islands at the Greek port of Kerkyra on Corfu Island," according to the statement.

Under the forum’s program, the Russian sailors attended a liturgy at the Church of St. John the Baptist. Later, the Black Sea Fleet’s commander, Vice-Admiral Igor Osipov, accompanied by a silent drill team and a military band, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to Greece’s first President Ioannis Kapodistrias and a march across Kerkyra’s streets to a monument to Admiral Fyodor Ushakov. "The Russian sailors paid tribute to the renowned admiral and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony to a memorial sign "To Greeks and Russians, who died for their fathers’ faith’" on Vido Island," the statement read.

Russian Ambassador to Greece Andrei Maslov visited the newest Black Sea Fleet’s vessel and wished the sailors success in fulfilling their mission as part of a naval task force in the Mediterranean Sea. During the business call, the crew went on sightseeing tours of Corfu Island and the frigate was open for visits by Kerkyra’s citizens.

The frigate arrived in Corfu on Friday and will stay at the port until October 2. The crew went on a route of the Mediterranean expedition of 1798-1800 led by Admiral Ushakov. Its outcome was liberating the archipelago’s islands and establishing the first democratic state in Greece, known as the Republic of Seven Islands.

The Admiral Makarov is the third Project 11356 blue-water frigate named after Imperial Russian Navy Commander, Oceanographer and Vice-Admiral Stepan Makarov. This is a series of multirole frigates in a far maritime zone, designed to destroy surface vessels and ships, submarines and the enemy’s surface facilities as well as to carry out patrol missions and protect naval communications. The frigates are armed with eight Kalibr-NK missile launchers.

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