Baltic Sea naval exercises under way

GDYNIA, Poland, June 9 (UPI) -- Russian military officials say a huge international naval exercise was under way Monday in the Baltic Sea, involving 35 vessels from 13 countries.

Called Baltops 2008 (short for Baltic Operations 2008), the effort was launched after a pre-exercise meeting in the Polish port city of Gdynia, Itar-Tass reported, saying Russia is represented by the Kaliningrad and the Neustrashimy.

The first phase of the exercise includes anti-submarine ship support and the use of helicopters in tracking submarines, the news agency said.

In addition to Russia, other nations taking part in the naval exercises include the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.