MOSCOW, December 15 (Sputnik) – A high ranking official of Russia’s Navy has refuted media reports that alleged security had intensified aboard the Mistral-class helicopter carrier by Russian marines.
Earlier on Monday some Russian media sources reported that Russian naval officers and sailors including the marines had intensified the security of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier “Vladivostok” stationed in the French port of Saint Nazaire.
“The warship has not been handed over to Russia yet. The crew does not stay on board of Mistral carrier but stays on board of “Smolny” ship. The access control system is under control of the Saint Nazaire dockyard. That is why the whole report is an extraordinary invention,” a source in the Russian Navy told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Earlier reports on Monday claimed that Russian marines had intensified security on board the disputed French-made Mistral warship in the port of Saint Nazaire in France, quoting the General Staff of the Russian Navy.
Dozens of Russian marines, together with officers and sailors from the country’s Pacific and Baltic Fleets currently remain on board the warship, said the report quoting a representative of the General Staff without disclosing his name.
“The warship is set to enter service for Russia’s Pacific Fleet; that is why there are Pacific Fleet officers among the crewmen who are going to receive it. Besides, there are Russian marines aboard whose task is to ensure the security of the warship and to test the working capacity of the airlift delivery systems," said the report.
Russia and France signed the €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) deal for the two Mistral-class ships in June, 2011. While the first carrier, the Vladivostok, was expected to show up in Russia before the end of November but never arrived, the second ship, the Sevastopol, was originally scheduled to arrive in 2015.
