Russian Aircraft Carriers Return to Base after Exercises

ΤΡΊΤΗ, 7 ΦΕΒΡΟΥΑΡΊΟΥ 2012

Russian Aircraft Carriers Return to Base after Exercises

Moscow, Feb 6 (Prensa Latina) The group aircraft carriers Admiral Kuznetsov is sailing close to Great Britain after carrying out maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea and visiting Syria, the spokesman for the Russian Northern Fleet, Captain Vodim Serga, said.   The Russian fleet was accompanied by the anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko and other supporting vessels traveling near the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, en route to their base in Severodvinsk. The fleet has traveled about 18,400 kilometers since it departed from its base on December 6 in a tour that included exercises with aircraft (SU-33 fighters and KA-27 helicopters) in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Admiral Kuznetsov was anchored off Syrian coast in late 2011 and visited by the supreme command of that country, where government forces face violent actions by armed groups encouraged from abroad to overthrow the government of President Bashar al Assad. The KA-27 helicopters made 25 flights, most of them at night, to practice takeoffs and landings on aircraft carriers and the Russian anti-submarine ship, explained the spokesman. Πηγή