Joint Algerian-Russian exercises to be held in the Mediterranean

A Russian frigate has arrived for an eight-day stay in North Africa

The Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Grigorovich has arrived in Algiers and will stay for eight days, the Telegram-channel Military Informant reported on Monday. 

Algeria and Russia are to hold joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean on December 8, with the aim of strengthening military cooperation between the countries, according to a statement from the Algerian Ministry of National Defense.

Earlier in November, according to the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, the frigate arrived in Tartus, Syria, to join the Russian Navy’s permanent task force in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Russian Defense Ministry has specified that the Admiral Grigorovich is a part of the mission to guarantee the safety of civilian navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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“The technical means and armament of the ship function normally. The crew is ready to perform the tasks according to the command plan of the Mediterranean Group of the Russian Navy,” the press service added.

Meanwhile, it’s the second time in three weeks that the frigate has visited Algeria.

The Mediterranean campaign involved the frigate staying in the Port of Algiers from November 12 to November 14. The ship’s officers met with the Algerian Navy command, the Algerian naval base and local port authorities.

According to the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian frigate’s working visit to Algiers “would serve as another step to strengthen and develop naval cooperation between the two countries.” 

The Black Sea Fleet built the frigate, the first out of the three of the same project, under the name of Admiral Grigorovich, at the Yantar Shipyard in the Baltic Sea. The frigate was commissioned into the Russian Navy in 2016.