Russian Pacific Fleet ships to take part in naval drills with Myanmar

BANGKOK, October 22. /TASS/. The Russian Pacific Fleet’s corvettes Gromky, Rezky and Hero of Russia Aldar Tsydenzhapov and support vessel Pechenga will take part in the second Russia-Myanmar joint maritime security drills, Myanmar’s State Administrative Council said in an information bulletin on Tuesday.
“The ships are in Myanmar to participate in the second joint maritime security naval drills,” the bulletin says.
The Pacific Fleet’s ships are in Myanmar on a friendly visit, during which the Russian sailors will go sightseeing in Yangon and take part in friendly sports competitions, it says.
Military Attache Sergey Kurchenko from the Russian embassy in Myanmar told TASS earlier that the Pacific Fleet’s ships had moored at the port of Yangon. As the Russian diplomatic mission informed, an official ceremony was held aboard the corvette Gromky to receive Russian Ambassador to Myanmar Iskander Azizov on October 21. The Pacific Fleet’s corvettes are expected to stay in Yangon until October 23.
On October 14-17, the Russian naval group made a friendly call at Malaysia to participate in commemorative events and pay tribute to the crew of the Imperial Russian Navy cruiser Zhemchug, which sank near the coast of Penang Island 110 years ago after it was attacked by the German cruiser Emden during World War I. The Russian sailors laid flowers and wreaths at the graves of 11 crewmembers of the cruiser Zhemchug at the Western Road Christian Cemetery in George Town and on Jerejak Island.
The Russian Pacific Fleet’s press office reported on October 5 that the corvettes Gromky, Rezky and Hero of Russia Aldar Tsydenzhapov had deployed to the sea to accomplish missions in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Peter the Great Gulf, one of the corvettes took a Pacific Fleet Ka-27 naval helicopter on its board.
During its long-distance deployment, the Pacific Fleet’s naval group will hold a series of drills in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular, to hunt down and destroy a notional enemy’s submarines and practice air defense and anti-saboteur defense at sea, it said.