Russia’s Northern Fleet practiced hunting enemy submarines in the Bering Strait

The drills took place not from from U.S. waters off Alaska.

A group of at least eight ships from Russia’s Northern Fleet is returning home after a show of force in the Pacific Ocean that coincided with the ongoing Vostok-2018 exercise.

The ships have now sailed into the Chukchi Sea and set course for Cape Vankarem, near the new and upgraded  Cape Shmidt Navy base where they will bunker fuel and fresh water, according to the Northern Fleet press service.

When the ships sailed through the Bering Strait they lined up in battle formation and engaged in anti-submarine training.

[Russian warships hold drills in Bering Sea in huge military exercise]

Sailing conditions in the Chukchi Sea are now difficult, the ship captains report. There is thick fog and the ships are all on high alert with regards to navigation security.

The fleet earlier this week conducted landing drills on the east coast of Chukotka peninsula. The exercise included coastal protection by soldiers from the Arctic Brigade. Before the drills, the soldiers had marched 270 kilometers from Cape Vankarem.

Both the defensive and offensive parts in the drills actively applied drones to gather intelligence data and tactical information, mil.ru reports.

As the Northern Fleet voyage towards the east started in early August, group of ships included anti-submarine vessel Vice-Admiral Kulakov, big landing ships Aleksandr Otrakovsky and Kondopoga, as well as icebreaker Ilya Muromets, tanker Sergey Osipov, tug Pamir, hydrographic research vessel Gorizont and crane ship KIL-143.