SEVASTOPOL, October 12. /TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet’s Project 11356 frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles are preparing for their deployment in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Russian Navy’s standing taskforce, a naval source told TASS on Tuesday.

"The frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen are preparing for their departure from Sevastopol for their deployment in the distant maritime area to reinforce the Russian Navy’s standing taskforce in the Mediterranean Sea," the source said.

Both warships have started to fulfil a set of pre-deployment measures, the source specified.

TASS has no official confirmation of this information yet.

In 2020, the frigate Admiral Makarov operated in the Russian Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron along with the frigate Admiral Grigorovich. As was reported earlier, the frigate Admiral Makarov will undergo planned repairs in a dry dock at the Sevastopol Ship Repair Plant until the end of this year.

Project 11356 frigates

The Admiral Grigorovich and the Admiral Essen are the Project 11356 lead and first serial-built warships, respectively. The frigates are armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles.

The frigate Admiral Grigorovich struck terrorist targets in Syria with Kalibr cruise missiles in November 2016 and June 2017. The frigate Admiral Essen participated in a missile strike against terrorist positions near Syria’s Palmyra and in the Syrian province of Hama in May and June 2017.