A detachment of ships and support vessels of the Northern Fleet led by the large anti-submarine ship (LAS) Vice Admiral Kulakov completed the passage of the English Channel and entered the North Sea, says press center of RF Defence Ministry.
During the passage of the Strait, the detachment made a stop in the international waters of the Gulf of Seine and conducted a training to replenish fuel from a tanker.
The LAS Vice Admiral Kulakov, the rescue tugboat Altai and the medium sea tanker Akademik Pashin are heading north.
At the final stage of the transition, Russian military sailors will have to work out a number of combat training tasks in the Norwegian and Barents Seas.
The long-distance campaign of the LAS Vice Admiral Kulakov began on June 28 with the exit from the main base of the Northern Fleet — Severomorsk. The crew of the ship took part in the Main Naval Parade in Kronstadt, and after its completion worked out separate episodes of practical actions in the Atlantic during the command and staff training on the management of forces and troops of the Northern Fleet.
From August 18 to September 23, the sailors of the Northern Fleet performed tasks as part of a permanent operational unit of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. During this time, they made business calls to Algeria, Syria and Cyprus, and also conducted a number of exercises on various types of defence of a detachment of ships at sea crossing and worked out the search for submarines of a mock enemy.
In October, the sailors of the Northern Fleet ensured the safety of civilian shipping off the coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean. They inspected several civilian vessels and ensured the safe passage of the Panamanian container ship Lucia, preventing the hijacking by pirates of its crew, consisting of citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Romania.
Since leaving the base of the LAS Vice Admiral Kulakov has traveled more than 26 thousand nautical miles, visiting the ports of five foreign countries.