Russian warships head to Atlantic, Mediterranean

Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo says the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier, the Admiral Levchenko destroyer and two support ships sailed from the Northern Fleet's main base of Severomorsk Friday.

Dygalo said in a statement that the ships will perform combat training and visit several ports during the tour which will take several months.

The tour follows a visit to the Caribbean by another group of Russian warships which conducted joint maneuvers with the Venezuelan navy earlier this week. The visit marked the first Russian navy deployment to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War.