MOSCOW (Sputnik) — NATO ships, accompanying a Russian group of warships headed by the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov sailing not far from the territory of the United Kingdom, did not violate the international maritime law, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Adm. Vladimir Korolev said Monday.
"Of course, it drew the attention, first of all, of the NATO countries. Up to eight warships accompanied us since we got into UK area, but there was no violation of international maritime law, it is a common practice when we accompany those groups that put to sea," Korolev told "Rossiya-24" TV channel.
He added that the campaign of the Russian ships was initially planned in a way to be completely autonomous, stressing that at this stage all the assigned tasks were completed by the warships' group.
Su-33 fighter jets based on Admiral Kuznetsov air carrier repeatedly took part in the anti-terrorist strikes in Syria.
Russia launched military operation against terrorist groups in Syria in September 2015, at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.