MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - The warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet successfully hit simulated enemy targets at sea, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported Monday.
"The strength group comprising a Bora-class hoverborne guided missile corvette Samum, guided missile corvette Shtil and two missile boats R-109 and R-239 successfully completed a joint missile firing at a complex target, simulating a surface combatant squadron of the potential enemy," the ministerial statement reads.
According to the ministry, around 20 warships and supply vessels and over 20 planes and helicopters of the Southern Military District took part in the training maneuvers.
On July 4, the Russian Black Sea Fleet started military drills led by the fleet commander Admiral Alexander Vitko.
On the same day four NATO warships entered the Black Sea to take part in the international Breeze-2014 military exercise with the US Navy and the naval forces of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Turkey. Breeze-2014 is scheduled to run from July 4 to 13.
NATO has been flexing its muscles near the Russian border and in the Black Sea since Crimea’s reunification with Russia in March, explaining the action with the need to protect the member states of the Alliance from possible invasion. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over the West’s ungrounded aggressive pressure on Russia.
