Russian warships head to Mediterranean

MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian warships, currently on a long-range sortie that will bring them to the Caribbean in November, will enter the Mediterranean Sea on October 5 and make several port calls in the region, the Navy said on Wednesday.

A naval task group from the Northern Fleet, comprising the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great), the large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko, and support ships, left a naval base in northern Russia on September 22 and is currently in the northern Atlantic, having covered a distance of 1,000 nautical miles (2,000 km) in a week.

"Having some spare time before a joint exercise with the Venezuelan navy, which is planned for November 2008, the warships will perform a number of tasks in the Mediterranean Sea and visit several Mediterranean ports, including Tripoli," the Navy's press service said in a statement.

Russian warships are scheduled to participate in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan navy in the Caribbean on November 10-14, in line with the 2008 training program, and in order to expand military cooperation with foreign navies.

During the entire mission, the task group is expected to cover a distance of 15,000 nautical miles (30,000 km).

Russia announced last year that its Navy had resumed and would build up a constant presence in different regions of the world's oceans.