LIMASSOL – A French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has docked in Cyprus’ main port of Limassol as part of a two-month deployment to the eastern Mediterranean. .

The Charles de Gaulle leads a strike group composed of two destroyers and a frigate tasked with anti-submarine and air defense duties, as well as a supply ship and a nuclear-powered submarine.

The French navy said the carrier’s deployment was intended to project France’s military might in the region and to support the fight against the remnants of the Islamic State group on Iraqi soil that “still constitute a threat.”

The carrier’s 20 Rafale marine fighter aircraft had been set to conduct flights over the Black Sea and hold joint air exercises with the Romanian Air Force. But it was unclear how the ongoing war in Ukraine could alter the strike group’s mission.