MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. The Russian Pacific Fleet’s Project 636.3 diesel-electric submarine Ufa and the rescue tug Alatau have made a business call at the port of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

"The Pacific Fleet’s diesel-electric submarine Ufa escorted by the rescue tug Alatau has made a business call at the port of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. The Russian Navy’s ships have called at this port for the first time," the press office said in a statement.

Upon the completion of the friendly visit, the Russian and Malaysian Navies are set to conduct the PASSEX joint drills in the South China Sea, it specified.

TASS reported on October 14 that the Russian naval group made up of the corvettes Gromky, Rezky and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov had called at the Malaysian port of George Town. The Russian naval sailors participated in commemorative events to pay tribute to the crew of the Imperial Russian Navy cruiser Zhemchug, which sank near the coast of Penang Island 110 years ago after it was attacked by the German cruiser Emden during World War I.

Built at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg in Russia’s northwest, the diesel-electric submarine Ufa is making an inter-fleet transit from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Fleet through the southern maritime route.

The Ufa was accepted for service with the Russian Navy on November 16, 2022. The sub is the fourth in a series of six Project 636.3 submarines being built for Russia’s Pacific Fleet. The submarines of this Project optimally combine acoustic stealth, the target detection range and powerful torpedo and missile armament. They carry the Kalibr high-precision missile system as their basic strike weapon.