MURMANSK, July 28. /TASS/. A naval group of Russia’s Northern Fleet practiced anti-sabotage measures in a roadstead off Kildin Island in the Barents Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.
"Today, during the anchorage in an unsafe roadstead near Kildin Island in the Barents Sea, the ships’ crews practiced anti-submarine and anti-saboteur defense measures and grenade throwing," the press office said in a statement.
"The naval group comprises the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk, the large amphibious assault ships Kondopoga and Alexander Otrakovsky, the sea minesweeper Vladimir Gumanenko, the rescue tug Pamir, the icebreaker Ilya Muromets, the tanker Sergei Osipov and the crane ship KIL-143," the statement runs.
After pulling up their anchors, the naval group’s ships started practicing maneuvering in various options of the deployment order and held communications drills. During the day, the sailors will also practice joint assignments with deck-based aircraft and measures for defending the group against a notional enemy’s air attacks, the press office specified.
The drills are running under the direction of Northern Fleet Deputy Commander Vice-Admiral Oleg Golubev, with the command post deployed aboard the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk.
After practicing a whole set of the drills’ assignments at sea, the ships and vessels will return to their naval bases to prepare for the next ninth Arctic deployment along the Northern Sea Route, the statement says.