Russian frigate heads to Mediterranean on Syria mission - source

The Russian Navy's frigate Admiral Grigorovich sails in the Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 4, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich left the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Monday for the Mediterranean where it will join the country's naval forces deployed near the Syrian coast, a naval official said.

A Reuters witness saw the ship leaving its moorings in the naval port of Sevastopol.

"It (the frigate) will be operating as part of the permanent Russian Navy force in the Mediterranean," the Interfax news agency quoted the navy's Captain Vyacheclav Truhachev, a spokesman for the Black Sea fleet, as saying.

The frigate armed with Kalibr (Caliber) cruise missiles was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea last November as part of Russia's naval task force to Syria where it launched missile strikes against Islamic State targets.

The Admiral Grigorovich is the first in the class of six frigates commissioned by the Russian navy in 2010 for its Black Sea Fleet.

(Reporting by Moscow Newsroom; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Potter)