Russia, China Kick Off Active Phase of Mediterranean Naval Drills

Russia and China has kicked off the active phase of their naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea.

“Russian and Chinese warships have arrived in the sea area allocated for the “Naval Cooperation 2015” military drills,” Deputy Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy Vice Admiral Alexandr Fedotenkov said on Sunday.

The vessels have replenished their stocks and are currently hove to at their set locations.

The staff of the joint Russian-Chinese grouping in the sea will be located at the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the “Moskva” (the Russian name for Moscow) guided missile cruiser.

Russia has sent its “Moskva” cruiser along with the Bora-class hoverborne guided missile corvette “Samum”,  the Krivak-class missile frigate “Ladny”,  Project 775 Large Landing Ships (LLS) “Alexander Otrakovsky” and Alexander Shabalin, and Navy Tug MB-31.

As for China, it will be represented by a pair of 4,000-ton Type 54A Jiangkai II frigates – Linyi (574) and Weifang (547) and Wei Shanhu, a Chinese Naval replenishment ship.

Fedotenkov stressed that the exercise is not directed against a third party.

“Russia-China exercise ‘Naval Cooperation 2015’ in the Mediterranean Sea is not directed against a third party and is aimed at enhancing mutual understanding between the fleets of two major naval states,” he said.

The active phase of the drill will last until May 21.