04.09 Russia�s Mediterranean Task Force to Rotate 4 Ships

MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) � A new group of ships from Russia�s Black Sea Fleet will join the country�s Mediterranean task force within days, a high-ranking Defense Ministry source told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

The task force currently includes vessels from the Pacific, Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets: the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the large amphibious landing ships Admiral Nevelsky and Alexander Shabalin, the frigate Neustrashimy, and a number of support and auxiliary vessels.

The new group includes the large amphibious landing ships Novocherkassk and Minsk and the electronic intelligence ship Priazovye. It will relieve the current task force as soon as it passes through the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, which is expected Thursday or Friday, the source said.