MOSCOW, January 20 (RIA Novosti) - A group of ships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet have left for the Mediterranean to participate in NATO operation Active Endeavor in February-March, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is also Defense Minister, said Friday.
The ships, based at the port of Sevastopol in the Ukrainian autonomy of Crimea, will take part in the operation - a naval effort against terrorism and the trafficking of drugs and arms - to patrol the Mediterranean and the Straits of Gibraltar in February and March.
"Ships from the Russian Black Sea Fleet led by the Moskva cruiser have already left Sevastopol for the Mediterranean," Ivanov said.
