VLADIVOSTOK, July 8. /TASS/. The Russian Pacific Fleet’s ships that participated in far-reaching naval maneuvers in the Pacific have returned to their home naval base in Vladivostok, the Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.
"Today, a ceremony was held in Vladivostok to welcome back the Pacific Fleet’s ships that participated in large-scale drills in the central Pacific as part of a naval taskforce. Seven combat ships moored at the pier of the Korabelnaya embankment in the capital of the Primorye Region," the press office said in a statement.
The warships included the Fleet’s Guards Order of Nakhimov Missile Cruiser Flagship Varyag, the measuring ship Marshal Krylov, the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, the large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Panteleyev, the corvettes Gromky, Sovershenniy and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, the statement says.
Pacific Fleet Commander Sergei Avakyants congratulated the seamen on their return and handed the ships’ commanders roasted piglets according to tradition.
The Pacific Fleet held the drills of this scope in the central Pacific for the first time in its modern history, the commander highlighted. The naval maneuvers involved over 20 combat ships, submarines and vessels of the Pacific Fleet, aircraft and helicopters of naval aviation. In over two months, the sailors had covered a distance of more than 20,000 nautical miles and fulfilled 50 combat exercises, he specified.
The Fleet’s auxiliary and hydrographic vessels that provided support for the naval taskforce’s operations in the distant maritime zone will soon return to their permanent naval base, the press office affirmed.
On the occasion of the return of the Pacific Fleet’s warships to their main naval base, an ‘open-house day’ was held on the Korabelnaya Embankment, during which the families of the naval sailors who had participated in the drills were able to visit the warships, the press office specified.