Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of June 05 Weekly Brief Most Russian warships were once again observed being located inside the Syrian port of Tartus, with the exception of the two capital vessel, the RFS Admiral Makarov and RFS Orekhovo-Zuevo. Both vessels have long endurance times at sea and thus most suited to keep track on NATO movements in the Eastern Mediterranean such as the movements of US, UK and French task forces. Ropucha class LST RFS Alexander Otrakovsky surprisingly headed back towards the Black Sea. The vessel, being part of the Northern Fleet, is one of four Ropucha class LSTs send to the Black Sea in support of military exercises on the Crimea. Russia thus continues to concentrate its amphibious lift capacity in the Black Sea for the time being. Tankers Sig and Yaz are doing a new supply run towards the Syria. One of the tanker, Sig, reportedly carries 3.000 tons of diesel fuel which is to be used by the Russian armed forces stationed in Syria. Dail...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of May 29 Weekly Brief Russia's reported maritime activity in the Eastern Mediterranean was largely focused on the Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Makarov shadowing the French carrier strike group during its deployment in the Eastern Mediterranean. Rescue tug Sergei Balk appeared to be the escort of the RFS Admiral Makarov during this period.  On May 23th, Ropucha class landing ship RFS Kaliningrad of the Baltic Fleet left the naval base of Sevastopol. The vessel has so far not been reported in transiting the Bosporus. Daily Events May 22 Salvage vessel Spasatel Demidov transited the Bosporus and entered the Mediterranean during the evening. The vessel is heading from Novorossiysk towards Murmansk. The vessel is in service with the Russian Federal Agency of Maritime & River Transport [ 1 ]. May 23 Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Makarov was seen on satellite imagery shadowing the French carrier strike group south o...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of May 22 Weekly Brief Naval activity was observed in the eastern Mediterranean with the Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Makarov shadowing the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle and with Olemka class tanker RFS Iman operating between Crete and Syria. Several transfers took place with minehunter RFS Ivan Antonov leaving the Mediterranean and patrol vessel RFS Vasily Bykov reinforcing the task force. Ropucha class landing vessel RFS Alexander Otrakovsky is on a supply run towards Tartus. The vessel belongs to the Northern Fleet but was dispatched to the Black Sea to support Russian military exercises in the Crimea. The LST most likely will head back to the Northern Fleet following her supply run. Currently there are still three Ropucha class LSTs of the Northern and Baltic Fleet present in the Black Sea. These are the vessels RFS Kaliningrad, RFS Korolev and RFS Kondopoga who entered the Black Sea on April 17 in week 15....

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT on May 16 Weekly Brief Activity by the Russian task force in the Mediterranean remained low with only a few reported naval activities. Most vessels were heading towards or were spotted at the Syrian port of Tartus. Daily events May 08 Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich transited the Bosporus and headed into the Black Sea [ 1 ]. The transit took place around 1720Z [ 2 ]. An unidentified Russian warships is reported west of Paphos, Cyprus, during the afternoon. The vessel is believed to be the Ropucha class LST RFS Novocherkassk [ 3 ]. May 10 Rescue tug Sergey Balk and the tankers Sig and Yaz were reported in the area between the northern Cypriot and Turkish coastlines. All three vessels were heading east towards Tartus [ 4 ]. Several Russian vessels harbored in Tartus were observed on satellite imagery. These included the Improved Kilo class submarines RFS Rostov on Don and Stary Oshkol, the minehunter RFS Ivan Antonov, Ropucha ...

May 04 Northern Fleet Marines of the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade took part in parachute training in the Murmansk Region. The marines involved are assigned to the air assault battalion and the reconnaissance units of the brigade and conducted their jumps from a Mi-8 transport helicopter [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. May 14 Black Sea Fleet: Around 300 marines are involved in air assault training at an unspecified location. The training focusses on both parachuting from transport helicopters and exiting the helicopter as it hovers just above the ground. Mi-8 helicopters are reportedly used during this training [ 3 ]. May 21 Northern Fleet: An amphibious withdrawal exercise took place at Gryaznaya Bay in the Kola Bay region. The landing vessel Ivan Gren approached to coast to a distance of about 10 meters and opened up het bow doors so that BTR-80 and BTR-82A APCs of the naval infantry could be recovered. The APCs entered the vessel by driving backwards, allowing them to be stored for a rapid debarkati...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at noon of May 08 Weekly Brief The reported naval activity during this week was limited to the arrival of several Black Sea Fleet warships into the Mediterranean. The various types of vessels and their limited numbers suggest a new rotation of warships stationed in Tartus, Syria. At the same time, Syrian express runs continue at their regular pace with a Ropucha heading to Tartus and the tanker Sig and Yaz heading towards Baniyas, Syria. Daily Events May 02 Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Makarov transited the Bosporus and entered the Mediterranean [ 1 ]. The vessel will most likely relief the frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich. May 05 Ropucha class landing ship RFs Novocherkassk has transited through the Bosporus and entered the Mediterranean. The vessel is heading for the Syrian port of Tartus [ 2 ]. May 06 Natya class minesweeper RFS Kovrovets passed the Bosporus and headed into the Mediterranean [ 3 ]. the vessel is expected to relief ...