SEVEROMORSK, February 8. /TASS/. The crews of the Russian Northern Fleet’s warships practiced techniques to fight pirates during drills in the northeastern Atlantic, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"A group of the Northern Fleet’s combat ships held an exercise to fight piracy in the areas of intensive shipping. The drills involved the marine corps units attached to the crews of the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, the frigate Admiral Kasatonov and the large anti-submarine warfare ship Vice Admiral Kulakov for the time of the long-distance deployment," the press office said in a statement.

During the drills, the naval sailors practiced the techniques of searching for, eliminating and detaining notional intruders located in internal premises and on the upper deck of ships. Blank ammunition was used to create an environment close to real warfare during the drills, the press office specified.

"Providing security for civilian shipping in various areas of the World Ocean is a major component in the naval task force’s operations while the personnel must be constantly ready to accomplish assigned tasks quickly and qualitatively," the press office quoted Northern Fleet Naval Task Force Commander, Captain 1st Rank Igor Nikitin as saying.

As the Northern Fleet’s press office recalled, last year the large anti-submarine warfare ship Vice Admiral Kulakov rescued the crew of the Panama-flagged container ship Lucia made up of Russian and Ukrainian sailors from pirates during its anti-piracy watch in the Gulf of Guinea.

Russian naval maneuvers

On February 7, the Northern Fleet’s task force entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Gulf of Gibraltar to participate in inter-fleet drills involving combat ships of the Black Sea and Pacific Fleets.

In compliance with the 2022 plan of the Russian Armed Forces’ training, a series of naval drills is being held in January-February this year in all the areas of responsibility of the Navy’s fleets under the general command of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.

The naval maneuvers are focused on measures by the Navy and the Aerospace Force to protect Russia’s national interests in the World Ocean and counter military threats to Russia from the direction of seas and oceans.

The drills cover the seas adjacent to Russian territory and also operationally important areas of the World Ocean. Separate drills will run in the Mediterranean, North and Okhotsk Seas, in the northeastern Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.

Overall, the massive drills will bring together over 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 items of military hardware and about 10,000 troops.