Russia on Monday said it deployed its new frigate with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles to the Mediterranean Sea.
This is a few months after Moscow had reinforced its naval forces off the Syrian coast.
According to the Defence Ministry in a statement, the Black Sea Navy Fleet’s frigate Admiral Makarov left (Navy base) Sevastopol and laid a course for the Black Sea straits.
It said the vessel will be acting in the standing naval force of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean.
The ministry did not say if the frigate was supposed to take part in the military operation in Syria where Moscow has backed President Bashar al-Assad since entering the war in 2015.
President Vladimir Putin in May said that Russian military vessels with Kalibr cruise missiles would be on permanent standby in the Mediterranean to counter what he said was the terrorist threat in Syria.
Moscow has in the past fired Kalibr cruise missiles from frigates and submarines stationed in the Mediterranean Sea at militant targets to support Syrian army offensives.