Russian group of ships holds over 10 drills during Arctic mission
MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Warships and support vessels of the Northern Fleet led by the destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov have begun the final stage of a long-range mission to the Arctic.
"The destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov has practiced the airdropping of an airborne assault force from a Kamov Ka-27PS helicopter in the area of Golomyanny Island and has performed several other training combat missions," the fleet said in a statement released on Monday.
In total, these ships "have sailed over 8,000 nautical miles and held over ten joint tactical drills; among other things, they completed maritime airborne operations on the coasts of Yakutia and Chukotka in the Laptev Sea, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea for the first time," the statement reads.
The ships passed through the Vilkitsky Strait from the Laptev Sea to the Kara Sea and moored in the harbor of the Dixon Port on Sunday.
The voyage took place in bad weather, with high winds and rough seas. The icebreaker Ilya Muromets led the group through areas with high ice risks in the Vilkitsky Strait.