Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk15/2021

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 leave the Mediterranean in the first half of Week 16.

Daily events

April 12
Black Sea Fleet Ropucha class landing ships RFS Novocherkassk transited the Bosporus and headed towards the Mediterranean [1]. The vessel is en route towards Tartus [2].

April 15
Satellite imagery showed Russian naval activity near the Syrian port of Tartus. Present inside the port are Amur class repair vessel PM-138 and improved Kilo class submarines RFS Stary Oshkol and RFS Rostov-on-Don. Buyan-M class corvette RFS Orekhovo Zuevo was seen entering the port while frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich appears to be holding a towing exercise together with the rescue tug Sergey Balk [3]. The Ropucha class landing ships of the Baltic and Northern Fleet were not spotted on the imagery.

A Ropucha class LST was spotted in the central part of the Aegean Sea on a northern course during the late afternoon [4]. The identity of the vessel could not be verified.

The AIS signal of the Altay class fleet oiler RFS Kola was last reported in the late afternoon in a position northeast of the Italian island of Pantelleria. The vessel is on a northwestern course heading towards the Strait of Gibraltar. The oiler is travelling together with the Steregushchy class corvette RFS Stoiky, Amur class repair vessel PM-82 and the rescue tug Yakov Grebelsky.


April 17
Ropucha class LSTs RFS Kondopoga and RFS Aleksandr Otrakovskiy transited the Bosporus and headed towards the Black Sea [5]. The transit took place during the morning.
Later during the day, the Baltic Fleet Ropucha class LSTs RFS Korolev and RFS Kaliningrad also transited the Bosporus and headed into the Black Sea [6]. The passage took place between 19:45 and 19:55 local time.

Popular posts from this blog

Russian Naval deployments during the Ukraine War

Image
March 17, 2022 At least six Russian warships were observed near Odessa. The warships maintained their distance and operated on the horizon. March 16, 2022 Several vessels entered the port of Sevastopol including the patrol vessel Vasily Bykov. The Bykov was rumored to be struck and sunk by a Ukrainian grad MLRS barrage near Odessa on March 07 dough this was never officially confirmed.  The visual confirmation of the vessel entering the port of Sevastopol undamaged indicates that if an MLRS attack took place, it did not struck the Bykov. Ropucha class landing vessel Kondopoga of the northern fleet allegedly also entered the port of Sevastopol. March 15, 2022 Several Russian warships and landing ships were spotted on commercial satellite imagery during the morning hours. The vessels were heading in the direction of Odessa.  The vessel leading the formation of landing ships appears to be minesweeper with her sweeping array deployed. During the evening, around 90 missiles were reported fir
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk20/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of May-18 Weekly Brief A significant reduction in combat strength took place with the departure of Northern and Baltic Fleet warships as well as the Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo. This leaves the task force reduced to a detachment of the Pacific Fleet and the frigate Admiral Grigorovich.  The departure also included the two amphibious landing vessels, thus resulting in an end to maritime weapon shipments for Russian mercenary forces stationed in Libya. Daily Events May 11 Civilian oil tanker Okeansky Prospect entered the Mediterranean during the afternoon via the Strait of Gibraltar [ 1 ]. Weapons runner Sparta IV was anchored near Malta and would stay there until May 13th. Frigate Admiral Grigorovich was observed sailing near Sparta IV [ 2 ]. May 12 Logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov was observed entering the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar at 10.45 local time [ 3 ]. Russian oil tanker Vladimir Mon
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk36/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Sep-07 Weekly Brief Fleet oiler Akademik Pashin, most likely escorted by the frigate Neustrashimy, unexpectedly departed the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. Their destination was not reported though several Russian interests are present in the region such as Sudan, Yemen and Iran. A long term Indian Ocean deployment appears to be unlikely since these deployments are almost always handled by vessels of Russia's Pacific Fleet. Improved Kilo class submarine Novorossiysk has been closing in on the Strait of Gibraltar. The submarine and her escorts could be entering the Mediterranean in Week 37. Daily Events September 02 Fleet oiler Akademik Pashin is reported 120 to 140 nautical miles from the entrance of the Suez Canal. The vessel is escorted by an unidentified frigate [ 1 ]. September 03 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus confirmed the presence of Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, frigate Admiral Grigorovich, Stere
Read more