Russian intelligence ship returns from Western Atlantic voyage

Russia’s intelligence-collection ship Viktor Leonov has returned from a long-distance Western Atlantic voyage to her Northern Fleet base, the fleet’s spokesman Captain First Rank Vadim Serga told TASS on Friday.

According to him, over the nearly five-month voyage the ship has covered more than 24,500 miles.
"The vessel took part in a joint exercise with the Venezuelan Navy, as well as several times paid friendly visits to Havana port (Cuba)," Serga said.

According to him, the Northern Fleet Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov "highly assessed professionalism and naval skills of the ship’s personnel who coped with all the set tasks." The crew were awarded the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief’s Cup for their last year’s successes. In addition, distinguished navy men were awarded with the Defence Ministry medals, badges and merit certificates.

Viktor Leonov is a medium-class intelligence ship of Project 864. The vessel was built in Poland. It was commissioned in 1988, since 1995 the ship has been in service with the Northern Fleet of Russia. The vessel’s full displacement is 3,800 tons, operational range - 7,000 miles. The vessel is capable of developing a speed of 16.5 knots and the crew comprises 220 people.