SIMFEROPOL, April 23. /TASS/. The patrol vessel Vasily Bykov and the small anti-submarine warfare ships Kasimov and Yeisk held drills in the Black Sea to search for and track a notional enemy’s submarine, the press office of the Black Sea Fleet reported on Thursday.

"As part of the drills, the sailors of the small anti-submarine warfare ships Kasimov and Yeisk held comprehensive training in employing torpedo weapons and carrying out bombing. In the course of its operations to search for and track a submarine, the crew of the patrol vessel Vasily Bykov held a shipborne exercise for shielding the small anti-submarine warfare ships from a notional enemy’s air attack," the press office said in a statement.

The Black Sea Fleet’s naval group also conducted artillery firings against a sea and an air target, the press office said.

"The surface targets were simulated by target screens while illuminating air bombs dropped from aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation and air defense force served as air targets," the statement runs.

The crews of the Vasily Bykov, the Kasimov and the Yeisk also conducted artillery fire against the mockups of floating mines, the press office said.