MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. A group of warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet led by the missile cruiser Moskva has set off for the Atlantic to perform missions, Fleet spokesman Vyacheslav Trukhachyov said on Wednesday.
"The missile cruiser Moskva, the frigate Pytlivy and the rescue tug Shakthyor and also the tanker Ivan Bubnov passed Gibraltar this morning and entered the Atlantic Ocean," the spokesman said.
A source in defense and diplomatic circles in Moscow told TASS "the warships will hold various exercises in the south-eastern part of the Atlantic."
Previous reports said the ships made water and fuel replenishments at the Spanish port of Ceuta. The warship group is sailing under the flag of Russian Black Sea Fleet Deputy Commander, Vice-Admiral Valery Kulikov.
The missile-carrying cruiser Moskva and the tanker Ivan Bubnov left Sevastopol on June 1 to take part in the Russian-Egyptian naval drills dubbed Friendship Bridge-2015.
The frigate Pytlivy and the rescue tug Shakhtyor were part of the Russian Navy’s permanent force in the Mediterranean Sea before joining the warship grouping.