The Russian Black Sea Fleet’s naval ships together with the vessels of the Turkish Naval Forces have conducted a passing exercise to improve interoperability in possible mine danger areas, Black Sea Fleet spokesman Capt. 2nd Rank Alexei Rulyov said on Friday. “During the drills, the patrol ship Vasily Bykov, the sea-going minesweeper Valentin Pikul of the Novorossiysk naval base held joint Russian-Turkish drills with the foreign corvette Burgazada and the minesweeper Akcay,” the press office said in a statement. On March 6-8, Turkish warships were in the port of Novorossiysk with a business call as part of national naval exercises dubbed Mavi Vatan-2019.

The warships’ crews also practiced interaction and maneuvering in the Black Sea and the escort of a group of ships in the zone of a possible mine danger. After the drills, the Turkish warships left the Russian waters.