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Russian navy starts drills in Black Sea

05 July 2014 00:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Russian Black Sea Fleet started military exercises of all-arms forces on Friday, the Defense Ministry said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

More than 20 warships and auxiliary ships, over 20 aircrafts and helicopter gunships, as well as Marine Corps and coastal missile units, were involved in the navy exercises, which covered the whole Black Sea maritime area, the ministry said.

The Russian warships test-fired five cruise missiles which hit the targets precisely, the ministry said.

"All the forces that take part in the exercises are acting in almost real combat conditions," the ministry said, adding that " the commanders are improving their decision-making skills in the ever-changing situation during the exercises."

The drills were supervised by the Black Sea Fleet Commander Alexander Vitko, it added.

However, the ministry did not say how long the drills would last.

Russian Black Sea Fleet has a base in the city of Sevastopol which, along with Crimean Peninsula, became a part of Russia in mid-March. The Ukrainian navy which shared the Sevastopol port with Russia vacated their Sevastopol barracks soon afterwards.