"The aim of the visit is to take part in the festivities held to mark the 60th anniversary of the landing in Normandy in 1944 and Navy Days," said the embassy staff. The Russian warship will bring along the orchestra of the Baltic Fleet and a Marine company.
It will be open to the public from August 28 to 30 and the Russian seamen will take part in sports and cultural functions. In the evening, the Minsk orchestra will entertain the public. On September 1, the ship's crew will take part in the joint exercise to clear up the consequences of an environmental catastrophe. The ship is to depart on September 2.
Minsk was commissioned in 1983 and is 112m long and 15m wide. It has two artillery systems and can take on a landing group and deliver it to the shore in the designated area. The crew consists of 27 officers, 33 NCOs and 130 seamen, commanded by Captain 2nd Rank Valery Yeremin.
After Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko visited the Kaliningrad Region (Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea) in 2001, an agreement was reached on naming the ship after the Belarussian capital, Minsk. Soon afterwards, the renaming was formalised in a decree of Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov.
RIA learned in the press service of the Royal Navy that about 20,000 guests are expected at the naval festivities in Plymouth. This unique function for the largest naval base in Western Europe is held biannually, giving the public a chance to visit the ships and meet the crews of surface vessels and submarines of the Royal Navy and foreign ships that come on visits here.
For the first time ever, one of Britain's largest ships, the aircraft carrier Ocean with modern helicopters will take part in the Navy Days this year, which will involve many other surface ships and submarines.
One of the submerged vessels will be the LR-5 that was sent to the sunken Kursk submarine in the first few days after the tragedy, trying to help to save the crew. We are happy to welcome, among other foreign guests, also the Minsk big anti-submarine ship and hope the public will enjoy visits to it, said the staff of the press service.
During his visit to the UK in July this year, Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said about Russo-British military relations that "the co-operation of our navies is moving ahead" of all other military services.
