KALININGRAD, April 2. /TASS/. The Baltic Fleet’s corvette called at the port of Limassol in Cyprus to replenish supplies in its long-distance deployment, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
"The plan of the visit envisages replenishing shipborne supplies to the required level. The Russian naval sailors will also get an opportunity to go on a local sightseeing tour and have a rest on the shore," the press office said in a statement, noting that this was the second call at the Cypriot port since a Baltic Fleet naval group had embarked on its long-distance deployment.
After wrapping up its call at the port, the corvette will continue accomplishing assigned missions within the Russian Navy’s standing taskforce in the Mediterranean. An anti-terror squad of the Baltic Fleet’s marine corps is staying aboard the combat ship and a Ka-27 helicopter is based on its deck, the statement says.
On December 16, 2020, the Baltic Fleet’s naval group comprising the corvette Stoiky, the medium sea tanker Kola and the sea tug Yakov Grebelsky deployed to the sea from the home naval base of Baltiysk for accomplishing planned long-distance deployment tasks. On February 15 and 16, the Stoiky and the Kola participated in the joint Russian-Iranian naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and the northwestern Indian Ocean.
Over the period of their deployment in distant waters, the Russian Navy ships called at the ports of Cyprus, Iran, Oman, Sudan and Syria. They also successfully coped with the task of escorting civilian ships along the security corridor through the Gulf of Aden to provide protection against possible pirate attacks.
The Stoiky is a Project 20380 multi-purpose corvette developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering (St. Petersburg). The warships of this class are designed to accomplish green-water escort and strike missions and patrol coastal waters. They are armed with versatile artillery guns, surface-to-air missile/artillery systems, supersonic missiles and automatic artillery launchers. The Project 20380 corvettes carry a Ka-27 helicopter.