It has just agreed an extension of the Black Sea fleet's lease in Sebastopol, in Ukraine.

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Its Black Sea fleet is not escorting Russian sanctions-busters into the Adriatic.

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The climate and the lingering grandeur made the town a popular retirement choice for Soviet officers, especially those who had served with the Black Sea fleet.

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The Russian Rescue Service said 80 of its experts were working in the Black Sea along with 112 personnel from the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet, who were focusing on the fuel cleanup.

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It is worth noting that the landing craft in question, while they have not been named in any of the reporting, are very clearly not the landing craft from the Black Sea fleet that were at the center of the controversy in late June but totally different ships from the Northern Fleet.

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If Russia was genuinely interested in providing some kind of naval assistance to its Syrian ally, or in conducting some sort of an evacuation, using ships from the Northern Fleet makes absolutely no sense: Russia has ships in the Black Sea that are much closer and that could be on station in a matter of days.

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