????Commanding officers of the Chinese side of the China-Russia maritime joint combat group go to the guided missile cruiser Moscow by boat on the morning of May 17, 2015. (Chinamil.com.cn/Li Jing)

????THE MEDITERRANEAN, May 18 (ChinaMil) -- After six days' sailing, the guided missile frigates Linyi and Weifang, and the comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu of the PLA Navy arrived at the exercise area in the eastern Mediterranean at 06:00 on May 17, 2015 to attend the China-Russia "Naval Interaction 2015(I)" joint exercise.

????The Chinese warships will form a maritime joint combat group together with Russian vessels there. The Chinese and Russian warships of the joint combat group will be divided into four mixed tactic combat groups.

????The third phase of the exercise, namely the operations to safeguard shipping safety, will be kicked off on May 18. During this phase, naval forces from the two countries will conduct maritime joint exercises under drifting condition, including maritime joint collective air defense, anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-frogman at an open anchorage, as well as a series of exercises during sailing, such as air defense, anti-submarine, anti-ship and biological and chemical protection.

????After leaving the port of Novorossiysk in Russia on May 12, the Chinese naval warships set out for the exercise site by passing the Strait of Bosporus, Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles Strait. The exercise area is about 10,000 kilometers from the home ports of the Chinese side, and the exercise is the farthest joint exercise of the Chinese PLA Navy.