Iran Press/ Europe: The Russian military has practiced firing missiles into the Black Sea as vessels of the U.S. Navy and allied and partnered forces entered the strategic waters to conduct joint drills.
Personnel of Russia's Black Sea Fleet deployed Bal and Bastion coastal defense systems to the Crimean Peninsula as part of "an exercise to destroy a simulated enemy's surface ship in the Black Sea," the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Once in position, crews prepared the launchers to fire, detected the mock target, identified it and locked onto it.
"In the course of the exercise, the servicemen practiced the algorithm of measures to deliver missile strikes against a simulated enemy's warship by electronic launches," the ministry added.
The Black Sea is the main arena of confrontation between Russia and the West.
NATO naval units are constantly patrolling in the Black Sea, holding annual exercises off the coasts of Georgia and Ukraine in which Russia is considered the ultimate enemy.
In recent years, NATO has had a large presence near Russia and its border areas under the pretext of Moscow's anti-Western threats. 219
