Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk14/2021

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 vessels was identified as a Ropucha. 
It remains unclear why these vessels are at Tartus but their presence could be linked to the Russian military exercises around Ukraine. Either these vessels form a reserve to be sent to the Black Sea to support Russian naval exercises or they performed a supply run which allowed to the Black Sea Fleet to concentrate its amphibious landing ships for training instead of having them conduct supply runs.

Daily Events

April 08
Several vessels were spotted on satellite imagery of the Syrian port of Tartus. These vessels inside the harbor were identified as an Amur class repair vessel, the Improved Kilo class submarines RFS Rostov-on-Don and RFS Stary Oshkol, Buyan-M class corvette RFS Orekhovo Zuevo, Altay class fleet oiler RFS Kola, two Ropucha class landing ships, a Grachonok class patrol boat and the rescue tug Yakov Grebelsky. Outside the port and at anchor were the Stereguschy class corvette RFS Stoiky, a Amur class repair vessel and two Ropucha class LSTs [1].
The Amur class vessel at anchor is presumed to be the PM-138 who entered the Mediterranean on April 01 through the Bosporus while PM-82 has been longer at Tartus. The two Ropucha class inside the harbor are believed to be the RFS Kaliningrad and RFS Korolev from the Baltic Fleet. Both vessels entered the Mediterranean on March 25 through the Strait of Gibraltar [2]. The two remaining Ropucha class LSTs at anchor are presumed to be the RFS Aleksandr Otrakovskiy and the RFS Kondopoga. One of the vessels was seen passing the Strait of Gibraltar on March 28 [3]. Bad visibility at that moment only allowed for one vessel to be spotted by her silhouette though no identification was possible.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a group of Baltic Fleet warships, identified as Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky, Altay class fleet oiler RFS Kola, Amur class repair vessel PM-82 and the rescue tug Yakov Grebelsky, are leaving Tartus and heading back towards the Baltic Sea [4].

April 10
Interfax news agency reports that the group of Baltic Fleet warships on their way back to the Baltic Sea are currently sheltering in a bay in the Mediterranean where the bad weather conditions prevents them from sailing further. This small task force is currently awaiting better weather before continuing their journey [5]. This group of ships left Tartus on April 08.

Intelligence collection vessel RFS Ivan Khurs arrived in Port Sudan for a port visit [6]. Given the location of this port and the average speed of the vessel, it most likely transited the Suez Canal on April 09.

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