Mr Putin, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, gave the order on March 28, 2013, to launch large-scale military exercises in the Black Sea area, and on March 29 came to Krasnodar Territory to personally see how the exercises were going.
The exercises involved up to 7,000military personnel, over 30 warships based in Sevastopol and Novorossiisk, aviation, rapid deployment airborne troops, marines and the special forces of the General Staff.
See also
Military exercises in the Black Sea region
March 29, 2013