The Arctic grouping ships of the Northern Fleet under the deputy fleet commander vice admiral Oleg Golubev command stopped at the port of Dudinka on the Saturday morning, 15 August. Previously, the ships had left the port of Dikson, where a small part of the group remained.
The main forces that approached Dudinka include the Severomorsk large anti-submarine ship, from which the forces are controlled, the Alexander Otrakovsky and Kondopoga large landing ships, as well as the Ilya Muromets KIL-143 ship and the icebreaker.
The Severomors will stay in Taimyr for about two weeks conducting exercises to land amphibious assault forces on the unequipped coast. This is the fourth training exercise for sailors in Taimyr, the first took place in 2015.
“I hope that the tradition that was established back in 2015 will continue”, vice admiral Oleg Golubev addressed the Taimyr people. “You make us sure Taimyr is our home. We are waited here. We will try to meet your expectations, of course, to show something new, to leave new impressions about ourselves, so that next time the warmth of your hearts would also meet the Northern Sea Fleet’s ships”.
The guests were greeted at the pier by the leaders of Taimyr and Norilsk, as well as residents of Dudinka in a solemn atmosphere.
“I am glad to welcome you on the Taimyr land and on behalf of all the inhabitants of our peninsula I want to thank the Ministry of Defense, represented by the Northern Fleet command, for the decision to conduct interagency tactical exercises here this year. This is very important for us, especially in such a significant year – the year of the Great Victory anniversary, – the head of Taimyr Yevgeny Vershinin noted”. And it is very symbolic that our eight best Yunarmy memebers, our eight heroes, who, together with the sailors, traveled from Dikson to Dudinka, are among the North Sea sailors on the right flank”.
On the ninth Arctic cruise, the group of ships left Severomorsk, the main base of the Northern Fleet, on August 5. During the passage along the Barents and Kara Seas, the Severomors covered more than 1200 miles. After the exercises in Taimyr, the ships will continue sailing along the Northern Sea Route eastward to the Bering Sea. The group will return to the port of permanent deployment in the second half of October.
Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: Evgeny Zhukov
