Russia Black Sea Fleet ships left for the Gulf of Aden to combat pirates.

SyuzhetyVoennaya operation against Somali piratov14.01.2009 "Admiral Vinogradov" saved the Dutch container ship from piratovBolshie landing ships (BDK) Black Sea Fleet of Russia "Yamal" and "Azov" came out on Thursday morning, January 16, of Sebastopol and took a course on the Gulf of Aden to join the operation against Somali pirates. On board are BDK unit of marines. Before a campaign in Sevastopol was a solemn meeting devoted to the exit of two ships at sea.
As the agency RIA Novosti source in the military department in the near future, Russian ships will bays Bosporus and Dardanelles, and then, after passing through the Suez Canal, the connection will take a course to the coast of Somalia.
At present, operations to ensure safety of navigation in the Gulf of Aden involving about 20 warships, among them a large antisubmarine ship Pacific Fleet of Russia "Admiral Vinogradov". The first ship of the Navy of Russia, who began patrolling the dangerous area for shipping off the coast of Somalia, was the patrol ship "Neustrashimy. His battle watch in the Gulf of Aden started on 28 October 2008.
According to Assistant Chief Navy Russia captain first rank Igor Dygalo, large landing ship "Yamal" and "Azov" will also participate in the Russian-Indian exercises Indra-2009 ". In addition, the exercises will take part heavy atomic missile cruiser Northern Fleet "Peter the Great" and ships for the Pacific Fleet.
Igor Dygalo said that the group of the Black Sea Fleet warships commanded by Captain First Rank Oleg Ignasyuk.
The large landing ship project 775, which include BDK "Yamal" and "Azov", designed for transporting troops and cargo by sea and the beach-master at unequipped coast. All the ships were built in the project Gdanke, Poland, in the years 1975-1985. Overall, it was put into operation 25 warships and 775 series, three more spacecraft project 775M.
BDK Project 775 took part in the evacuation of Soviet citizens from Yemen in 1986, in the operation of the evacuation from Ethiopia in 1991, in the delivery of Russian peacekeeping forces in Yugoslavia in 1999. 2 August, 2008 BDK «Yamal» and «Saratov», planted a Russian landing in the Georgian port of Poti.