Russia says one of its warships rescued 68 passengers from boat in Mediterranean

A navy patrol boat sails near the German Navy corvette FGS Erfurt (F262) in the Mediterranean sea waters off Lebanon's southern Naqoura on October 27, 2022. (AFP/File)

• The Admiral Gorshkov warship received a distress call from the Avalon, a “yacht-type vessel,” Moscow says 
• Gorshkov and a cargo vessel rescued passengers, gave medical assistance and transferred to Greek coast guards

MOSCOW: A Russian warship and cargo ship rescued 68 people overnight from a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday. 

It said in a statement that the Admiral Gorshkov warship had been the first to receive a distress call from the Avalon, which it described as a “yacht-type vessel” flying the Greek and German flags. 

The Gorshkov and the cargo vessel, the Pizhma, carried out a successful rescue operation and the passengers were given medical assistance and transferred to Greek coast guard boats off the island of Kalymnos, the statement said. 

It gave no details of the passengers or their nationalities. 

Admiral Gorshkov is one of Russia’s leading warships and has been used in the past to test and deploy hypersonic missiles. It was not clear what weaponry it was carrying at the time of the incident. 

Hundreds of people, mostly from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, are feared to have drowned in a boat capsize off Greece last week.