Russia will continue fighting hijackers off Somalia's cost and will support sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to prevent piracy, Russia's envoy to the UN said on Wednesday.

"The Russian Federation will continue taking active part in the battle against piracy off Somalia's coast," Vitaly Churkin said.

"A Russian Pacific Fleet task force, the third since October 2008, is currently [carrying out anti-piracy patrols] in the region. We intend to strengthen cooperation with all parties concerned in all aspects of the issue," he said.

Churkin also said the Russian authorities "support the extension of sanctions, imposed by the Security Council under the request by Somalia's interim federal government, aimed at preventing... armed piracy at sea."

In a report to the UN Security Council issued on Monday, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said international antipiracy operations off Somalia have led to a decline in the number of successful ship seizures in the region.

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991 plagued by fighting between rival warlords, famine and disease, which have claimed the lives of up to 1 million people.

UNITED NATIONS, November 18 (RIA Novosti)