Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk29/2021

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at noon of July 24

Weekly Brief

Little naval activity was once again reported with the sole exercise being an anti-sabotage exercise held at the port of Tartus during which at least one Improved Kilo class submarine was involved. Sentinel imagery of July 19 showed several surface vessels moored at Tartus though the location where the submarines are usually moored remained empty.

The amphibious build up on Russia's southern flank has officially ended with all four Ropucha class leaving the Mediterranean an returning towards their respective homeports.

Daily Events

July 19
Northern Fleet Ropucha class landing ships RFS Kondopoga and RFS Alexander Otrakovsky passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean [1]. Both vessels are returning to their homeport and will spend the transit time on the Atlantic Ocean training [2].

Sentinel-2 satellite imagery of the port of Tartus showed several vessels in port however the resolution was not decent enough to make positive identifications. The southern end of the pier is the main mooring location of submarines stationed at Tartus which is highlighted by the yellow square. The absence of any shapes blocking the southern side at the end of the pier indicates that no submarines were present in the port at that time. 



July 20
Baltic Fleet Ropucha class landing ships RFS Kaliningrad and RFS Korolev were seen passing Europa Point at Gibraltar and heading in the Atlantic Ocean. The passage took place at 14:30 local time [3].

Russian tankers Yaz and Sig were spotted on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at the Syrian port of Baniyas together with several Iranian tankers [4].

July 22
An anti-submarine sabotage exercise took place, involving Black Sea Fleet personnel stationed in the Mediterranean. The exercise involved sabotage units attaching an explosive device under the waterline of a submarine. The crew of a Grachnok class patrol boat was tasked to detect and apprehend these saboteurs as they tried to accomplish their mission. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the crew succeeded in intercepting and capturing the saboteurs [5].
Though not mentioned explicitly, the exercise took place at Tartus, Syria, where the Russian naval task force operating in the Mediterranean is stationed. The submarine involved is not motioned by name and could not be guessed by the content of the article. Both the RFS Stary Oshkol and RFS Rostov-on-Don are stationed in the Mediterranean.

July 24
Black Sea Fleet rescue tug Capitan Gurev passed the Bosporus around 0750Z [6]. The passage was visually observed [7]. The vessel departed its homeport at Novorossiysk and is heading for a deployment in the Gulf of Oman. There, the vessel will support the Russian Navy team taking part in the Glubina-2021 diving competition held by the Islamic Republic of Iran [8] [9].

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