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The Russian squadron led by the aircraft carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" leaves the Mediterranean Sea

The Russian squadron led by heavy aircraft carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" leaves the Mediterranean Sea, to go back to Murmansk. During the long voyage the ship's crew conducted dozens of different exercises, and the crews of carrier-based aircraft have flown more than 120 hours. daybreak the next day driving trip to meet the ship at the exit of the Strait of Gibraltar. Since the end of December 2011 the Northern Fleet sailors were carrying on combat duty in the Mediterranean. During this time, in areas of central and eastern Mediterranean, our sailors were covered several thousand miles. Every day aboard aircraft carrier group training exercises of various military units.

The gunners and soldiers survivability division, Marines and special operations units, and of course, the two wings of our squadron aircraft - fighter pilots and helicopter pilots. During the long period of Mediterranean campaign fliers of two squadrons of the Northern Fleet had almost a dozen changes of flight, with a common touch about 120 hours. It was done over a hundred landings on the deck, held on 20 training air combat and interception purposes.

Among the pilots were both very young officers, the first landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a long march, and the pilots, planted dozens of times on the Su-33 " Admiral Kuznetsov ", and one of them, Pavel Ivanovich Pryadko in this entry into the Mediterranean Sea was the anniversary, one hundredth landing on aircraft carrier. Out in the Atlantic Ocean means for the crew of the Russian squadron awaited the approach to their native shores. But before his return to the raid in Murmansk, ships and aircraft of the Northern Fleet is still a few maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean.

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BSF Floating Workshop PM-56 Returned to Sevastopol

Black Sea Fleet (BSF) floating workshop PM-56 commanded by Capt Igor Bakuradze on Jan 31 returned to Sevastopol from a 6-month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea, BSF press service told Central

Navy Portal. Being deployed in the Mediterranean, the vessel maintained activities of Russian Navy's task force. To provide security during the cruise, PM-56 had an anti-terror group and boarding party consisting of BSF marines. A solemn meeting ceremony took place in Sevastopol; the crew was handed traditional bread-and-salt and a piglet roast. BSF seagoing tanker Ivan Bubnov continues to maintain Russian Navy's carrier group in the Mediterranean Sea. Floating workshop PM-56 was built in Szczecin, Poland in 1973.

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7:42AM GMT 07 Feb 2012
The destroyer sailed alongside the 50,000-tonne Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as it made its way north. The Portsmouth-based Type 42 warship was acting as fleet escort as it followed a carrier-led Russian task group from the Channel off south-west England to the seas off south-west Ireland.

The task group of two warships and five support ships were making their way home to the northern and Baltic fleets of the Russian navy. The images were released by the Royal Navy.

HMS Liverpool's commanding officer, Commander Colin Williams, said: ''As an island nation, it is essential for the UK to maintain a military presence in our waters.

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Northern Fleet (NF) warships – aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko – are pursuing a northern course to continue cruise through the North Atlantic towards home base. Prior to that, the ships have replenished supplies from auxiliary vessels in the Moray Firth.

Underway through the Atlantic, crews of the Russian Navy's carrier group will continue improving naval skills in severe conditions of cyclonically active northern latitudes. In favorable weather conditions, aircrews plan to proceed with training flights of deck-based fighters Su-33 and helicopters Ka-27.

Through the deployment started on Dec 6, 2011, pilots of the carrier group have performed about 350 sorties and acquired wide flight experience in different climatic zones and latitudes. Helicopter pilots have carried out 84 flights (out of over 200 sorties) in the night time.

As for now, aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov has covered over 12,000 nautical miles. The carrier group is expected to call at NF main base Severomorsk by the end of the next week, said NF Press Secretary Capt 1 rank Vadim Serga.

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