Missile cruiser Varyag to head Russian naval group in Mediterranean in October

19.09.2013 The Pacific Fleet flagship missile cruiser Varyag will enter the Mediterranean in October, where it will head the permanent operative junction of the Russian Navy, a naval official told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.

"In October, the cruiser Varyag will leave the Red Sea through the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean. According to the rotation plan, it will replace the Black Sea cruiser Moskva in late October, which is expected to return to Sevastopol in November," the source said.

In this rotation, the large destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the big landing ships Peresvet and Admiral Nevelsky, the tanker Pechenga, and the rescue tow-boat Fotiy Krylov will leave for Vladivostok.

The Russian General Staff earlier told Interfax-AVN the Pacific Ocean missile cruiser Varyag was expected to join the Russian naval group in the Mediterranean to replace the large destroyer Admiral Panteleyev.

Captain 1st Rank Roman Martov, the head of the information support department of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, said on Wednesday that the units of Pacific Fleet ships comprising the missile cruiser Varyag, the sea tow-boat SB-22, and the tanker Boris Butoma are heading from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean."

The Russian naval group in the Mediterranean is composed of the missile cruiser Moskva, the large destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the guard ship Neustrashimy, the guard ship Smetlivy, the big landing ships Alexander Shabalin, Novocherkassk, Nikolai Filchenkov, and Minsk. The reconnaissance ship SSB-21 Priazovye is fulfilling a special task from the General Staff. The big landing ships Peresvet and Admiral Nevelsky are heading to Novorossiysk.