Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of May 01 Weekly Brief Limited naval activity was observed by the Russian task force with most vessel still in harbor at the end of week. One Improved Kilo class submarine was not in port on April 30 and is most likely conduction training in the Eastern Mediterranean. Da ily Events April 25 Oil tanker Yaz transited the Bosporus during the early morning hours and headed towards the Black Sea [ 1 ]. The vessel is heading from Baniyas, Syria, towards the port of Kavkaz Ropucha class LST RFS Novocherkassk transited the Bosporus around 0530Z and returned to the Black Sea [ 2 ]. April 26 Oil tanker Sig passed through the Bosporus during early morning and headed into the Black Sea [ 3 ]. The vessel departed Baniyas in Tartus and is heading towards the Russian port of Kavkaz. April 28 Intelligence collection vessel Vasiliy Tatishchev is reported in the Port of Sudan with the Amur class repair vessel PM-138 expected to arrive during the mo...

Task Force composition As reported by OSINT at noon of April 24 Weekly Brief The departure of the Baltic detachment has brought the Russian naval forces in the Mediterranean back to their normal levels of two submarines, one frigate and one corvette supported by an oiler and repair vessel. No operational deployments were reported through OSINT this week except for two Russian oilers heading back to the Black Sea under the escort of a rescue tug. Daily Events April 18 Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky, Altay class oiler RFS Kola, Amur class repair vessel PM-82 and rescue tug Yakov Grebelsky transited the Strait of Gibraltar and headed into the Atlantic Ocean around 2330 local time [ 1 ] April 23 Rescue tug Sergei Balk is escorting the oil tankers Sig and Yaz in a central position in the Aegean Sea. The vessels had departed Tartus earlier and were reported on a northern course towards the Black Sea [ 2 ].

Task Force composition As reported by OSINT at noon of April 17 Weekly Brief A transfer of strategic assets took place at the end of the week with two Northern Fleet Ropucha class LSTs entering the Black Sea, followed by the two Baltic Fleet LSTs. It is presumed that these vessels will also be heading towards the Black Sea to support Russian amphibious training exercises. Russia's build up of amphibious ships in the Black Sea has been ongoing since the start of week 15, with eight landing craft of the Caspian Flotilla entering the Black Sea. On the other hand, the landing vessel RFS Novocherkassk entered the Mediterranean on April 12 for a new supply run towards Syria. She is expected to return to the Black Sea in the second half of week 16 as the normal time between entrance and departure is between nine to 14 days. The Baltic Fleet group comprising the RFS Stoiky, RFS Kola, PM-82 and Yakov Grebelsky is making steady progress towards the Strait of Gibraltar and is expected to leav...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of April 10 Weekly Brief No naval activity was reported through OSINT this week and it appears the Russian naval forces were largely concentrated at Tartus, Syria where the bulk of the task force was spotted on April 08.  Several vessel are scheduled to leave the task force in the short term. These include the Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky and her escorting fleet oiler RFS Kola. Both vessels have completed their Indian Ocean deployment. Repair vessel PM-82 is also expected to return to the Baltic Fleet as the PM-138 is able to take over her task of providing technical support for the Russian vessels stationed at Tartus. Four Ropucha class landing ships were located at Tartus on April 08. The Baltic Fleet vessels were previously observed entering the Mediterranean on March 25. The two vessels of the Northern Fleet entered on March 28 but weather conditions at the time prevented a positive identification and only one vessel...

April 01 Caspian Flotilla Around 200 marines were deployed on the Adanak training ground in a defensive exercise. The marines used Orlan-10 and Eleron-3 UAVs to scout and observe their area of operations and detect hostile forces. Several groups of simulated hostile forces were observed planting mines on the roads used by supply vehicles. The marines calculated the coordinates of these groups and transmitted the targeting data to artillery units which subsequently engaged and destroyed these hostile groups [ 1 ]. April 02 Pacific Fleet The air assault company of the Kamchatka naval infantry was involved in a battalion tactical exercise. Around 300 servicemen parachuted from  An-12 and An-26 transport aircraft from altitudes between 800 and 1.000 meters with the use of D-10 and Arbalet-2 parachutes. Once on ground, the marines skied towards their target area, an occupied facility, neutralized the enemy force and defended the area until relieved by a main force [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. 40 BMP-3 ...