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Russian Defense Ministry posts clip of marines freeing ship from pirates in African waters

A taskforce from the Russian Northern Fleet has been on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Guinea over the past three weeks

Container ship Lucia Russian Defence Ministry/TASS

Container ship Lucia

© Russian Defence Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry uploaded a video on Tuesday showing a Russian warship’s marine corps squad liberating a civilian cargo ship from pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.

The video footage shows a marine corps unit from the large anti-submarine destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov landing on the Lucia container ship and inspecting the vessel.

As the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier, the Panama-flagged container ship Lucia bound from Togo to Cameroon was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. After receiving a distress signal, the Russian warship sent a helicopter with a marine corps squad to liberate the vessel.

The pirates fled the cargo ship after the helicopter approached the vessel. Later, an anti-terror squad from the Russian warship boarded the cargo ship, freed the crew and started inspecting the vessel.

A taskforce from the Russian Northern Fleet has been on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Guinea over the past three weeks. The taskforce consists of the rescue tug Altai, the medium sea tanker Akademik Pashin and the large anti-submarine warfare ship Vice Admiral Kulakov. The Russian marines are providing security for shipping, and monitoring the maritime situation using deck-based aviation.

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