MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. A detachment of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet warships has held an exercise to defend Russian military facilities in the Arctic, the fleet’s press service reported.

"A detachment of Northern Fleet warships conducted an exercise with a Northern Fleet tactical group to defend Russian military infrastructure facilities in the Arctic," the press service said.

According to the exercise scenario, a group of simulated enemy ships was preparing to seize military facilities on Alexandra Land Island. After receiving the mission, a battalion of the Bastion coastal missile launcher, stationed on the Franz Josef Land archipelago, moved to its designated area. The Bastion crews carried out simulated missile launches against the naval group. The targets were located 350 kilometers away. The surviving enemy landing forces reached Alexandra Land from assault boats.

A detachment of Northern Fleet warships practiced reinforcing the protection and defense of military infrastructure facilities. The crew of a Ka-29 ship-based helicopter, which took off from the Ivan Papanin patrol ship, delivered a counterterrorism team to the island. During the combat exercise, the simulated enemy forces were destroyed. Mobile air defense teams practiced intercepting unmanned aerial vehicles.

The press service emphasized that the tasks of simulating a missile strike by the Bastion coastal missile launcher crews against a detachment of enemy warships, as well as reinforcing and defending the Northern Fleet’s tactical group, were fully accomplished.

The fleet noted that the exercise was conducted using lessons from the special military operation. The exercise took place in challenging weather conditions, including snowfall and winds reaching speeds of up to 30 meters per second. However, the personnel completed all assigned tasks.