Russian and Ukrainian sailors will hold their first joint parade in Sevastopol in Ukraine’s Crimea on Sunday to celebrate Russia’s Navy Day, spokesman for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Captain First Rank Vyacheslav Trukhachyov said.
The professional holiday of the Russian Navy, which was established in 1939, is marked on the last Sunday of July and coincides with the celebration of the Ukrainian Fleet Day.
The parade will be held with the participation of Russian and Ukrainian naval ships and will demonstrate the landing of a joint marine force and firing drills.
The parade’s marine part will be launched by the Russian Bora-class hoverborne guided missile corvette Samum, aboard which the state flags of Russia and Ukraine will be hoisted. The warship will be followed by the Ukrainian Zaporozhye submarine also with the flags of Russia and Ukraine.
The parade task force will also comprise mine sweepers, small antisubmarine warfare and guided missile ships from both navies.
Russian and Ukrainian assault landing ships will demonstrate the landing of marines onto rough terrain and will fire torpedoes to destroy designated targets.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet is stationed at the historic port of Sevastopol in Crimea under a lease agreement with Ukraine. Moscow and Kiev signed the so-called Kharkiv agreements on April 21, 2010, extending the fleet's lease to the base for another 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017.
