Russian Battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky (Wikipedia Commons)
A
Russian naval contingency led by the missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky has
arrived in the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, Russia’s Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday, according to a TASS report.
“Last week, our ship-borne air strike force led by the missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky made a passage
through the eastern Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea. On October
27-29, support vessels replenished the naval group with all types of
supplies to the required level,” Shoigu said, noting that the fact that
“certain countries” refused to let his ships dock in their ports did not
hinder the mission.
“We were especially surprised by the position
of certain countries which under the pressure of the US and NATO said
in public they denied the request of our warships to call at their
ports,” Shoigu said.
“This
did not affect at all the schedule of their traffic along the planned
route as they are provided with all the necessary resources,” he said,
however, “It is time for our Western partners to determine against whom
they are really fighting — the terrorists or Russia.”
According
to Shoigu, the Russian forces which will regroup at the Khmeimim
Russian airbase south-east of the city of Latakia, and at the Tartus
naval maintenance base, in Syria, are well provided for, with 2,000 tons
of goods that are delivered to them daily.
The Russian Northern
Fleet’s aircraft carrier group began its voyage to the north-eastern
Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea on October 15. According to data of
the Northern Fleet’s press office, the group comprises the heavy
aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear-powered missile
cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the large antisubmarine warfare ships Severomorsk
and Vice-Admiral Kulakov, and support vessels.