SEVASTOPOL, November 26. /TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet’s missile boat Shuya practiced striking naval and aerial targets as a US guided missile destroyer entered the Black Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
"In the course of fulfilling combat training tasks, the personnel accomplished a set of preparatory and qualification firings at a naval practice range against sea and air targets from the ship’s artillery and missile armaments, using the basic AK-176 artillery gun and the Pantsyr-M surface-to-air missile/gun system," the press office said in a statement.
The mariners also practiced naval training elements, mine countermeasures and the defense of a missile boat in an unsafe roadstead.
The US Sixth Fleet announced on November 25 that the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) entered the Black Sea "on a routine patrol." As the US Navy claimed, "NATO allies and partners routinely operate in the region" to ensure a safe and stable maritime environment and "build partner capacity to improve effectiveness and interoperability."
Meanwhile, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on November 25 that the Russian naval forces had started to track the US destroyer’s deployments in the Black Sea. As the Defense Ministry of Russia stressed, the activity of US naval ships in the Black Sea is becoming an increasingly destabilizing factor in the region and one of the aims is to exploit Ukrainian territory for military purposes.