Mistral's Russian crew will stay at French shipyard until year-end
PARIS/MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian crew trained to operate Russia's first Mistral-class helicopter carrier, the Vladivostok, will be able to await the ship's transfer to Russia at the French shipyard Saint-Nazaire until the end of the year, a military-diplomatic source told Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
"The Vladivostok crew will wait for a decision on the ship's handover for no longer than two months, until the New Year holidays. Afterwards, our sailors will have to return to Kronshtadt. Such a plan is being discussed today, but the situation may chance any minute," the source said.
The source did not rule out that Russian crew members who were supposed to serve on board the second Mistral-class ship, the Sevastopol, could be sent back to Russia in early December.
The situation concerning the Mistral project is a purely political issue, and the Russian side will await an appropriate decision, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, has refused to comment on the situation with the transfer of the Vladivostok helicopter carrier to the Russian Navy.