BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:40 P.M.) – The Admiral Essen, a Russian frigate equipped with guided Kalibr cruise missiles, left Sevastopol on Sunday, on its way to the Syrian coast.
The Essen and along with the Admiral Grigorovich are the only frigates in the Black Sea Fleet to have carried out cruise missile strikes on self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) positions in Syria.
The Russian frigate is expected to arrive in the Mediterranean in the coming days; however, the length of its deployment is still unknown.