Russian and Chinese naval ships to head to site of Mediterranean Sea drills - Russian Defense Ministry

Russian and Chinese naval ships are expected to sail out of the Novorossiysk port and head to the Mediterranean Sea to hold their Joint Sea-2015 maneuvers, on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported.

"The active phase of the exercises will take place in a certain district of the Mediterranean Sea from May 17 to May 21," the ministry's spokesman for the Navy Captain 1st Rank Igor Dygalo told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

The unit of the Russian Navy and the People's Liberation Army Navy of China includes China's Linyi and the Weifang frigates and the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Samum amphibious ship, he said. They are expected to cross the Black Sea, sail through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and catch up with other ships participating in the maneuvers in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.

An official see-off ceremony for the ships will be held at the Novorossiysk port's Pier No. 34 at 5:00 p.m. Moscow time. It will be attended by Russian Navy Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov, Deputy Commander of the Chinese Navy Vice Admiral Du Jingchen, members of the two countries' joint headquarters overseeing the drills and servicemen of the Novorossiysk naval base, Dygalo said

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