Russia sent naval vessels to blockade Georgia's Black Sea coast.[5] According to the Russian navy, a group of ships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, including the flagship Moskva missile cruiser, arrived on 10 August 2008 near the Georgian border. The source in the Russian Navy's headquarters claimed, that "the purpose of the Black Sea Fleet vessels' presence in this region is to provide aid to refugees." A spokesman of the president of Abkhazia earlier said, that "the local administration and peacekeepers had asked Russia to reinforce its naval presence near the Abkhazian coast, after Georgian warships attempted to approach the coastline."[6]