MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. The Arctic battlegroup of the Northern Fleet led by the large anti-submarine ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov completed a passage to northern Pacific, the fleet said.

"Ships and vessels of the Northern Fleet have taken up anchorage sites in Cross Bay in the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean," the fleet said.

In addition to the Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the battlegroup includes the large landing ship Alexander Otrakovsky, the rescue tugboat Altai and the tanker Sergey Osipov.

During the Arctic voyage, the ships traveled about 6,000 nautical miles, conducted some exercises in the Barents, Kara seas and Laptev seas, and traveled on the Yenisey River to the port of Dixon, where they conducted a tactical exercise to resolve a crisis situation in the Arctic. Part of the route went through areas likely to have floating ice packs, such as the Velkitsky, Sannikov, Long and Bering straits. Near Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea, the ships were escorted by one of the world’s largest and most powerful icebreakers, the Project 22220 Ural icebreaker operated by Rosatom State Corporation.

The voyage of the detachment, which began on August 5, is part of measures aimed at protecting Russian interests in the Arctic. It is being conducted under the flag of Northern Fleet Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Oleg Golubev.

During the voyage, Northern Fleet servicemen are practicing the missions of ensuring military security, Russian maritime economic activity in the Arctic, defense of continental and island territories and strategically important facilities, and countering illegal armed groups.