Russia and Italy to hold joint counter-piracy exercises in Ionian Sea
MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian-Italian Ioniex-2013 naval counter-piracy exercises will be held off Italy's coast from November 4 to November 9.
"One of the highlights of Ioniex will be joint embargo operations intended to combat illegal activities at sea and enhance coordination between Russian and Italian sailors as part of their crackdown on maritime piracy and the protection of ships," Russian Black Sea Fleet spokesman Captain 1st Rank Vyacheslav Trukhachyov told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
The Black Sea Fleet's surveillance ship Smetlivy will represent Russia at the event, which was agreed upon during a bilateral planning conference, held at Italy's Taranto naval base in early October.
"Naval forces of the Russian Federation and Italy are expected to hold training exercises at the base from November 4 to November 6, after which their sea exercises will begin," he said.
