Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk37/2021

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at noon of September 18

Weekly Brief

Udaloy class destroyer RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov is on a patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean with her and her escorts making a supply stop at Cyprus during the beginning of the week.

Amur class repair vessel PM-138 is operating in the Aegean Sea and appears to be returning to the Black Sea. The vessel arrived in the Mediterranean on April 01 and was expected to operate for 6 months which is the standard rotation time for repair vessels. So far no news of a replacement for PM-138 was reported, suggesting that the Russian task force in the Mediterranean could operate without a dedicated repair vessel. Given the high number of warships in the Mediterranean, this seems a risky decision.

Daily Events

September 13
Fleet oiler RFS Akademik Pashin has arrived at the port of Limassol, Cyprus at 1100Z [1].

September 14
Training vessel RFS Smolny has left the Mediterranean by passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. Her passage took place at 17:00 local time [2].

September 15
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that the rescue tug Captain Guryev is starting to return to the naval base of Sevastopol. The vessel is currently in the Arabian Sea where it support the diving competition "Depth/Glubina" during the 2021 Army Games. The vessel already has set course towards the Suez Canal. Her return in Sevastopol is expected in the first half of October [3].

The Udaloy class destroyer RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov completed a port call at Limassol, Cyprus. The vessel reportedly took on fuel and water and gave some time off to the crew. The date of her arrival was not reported but the destroyer forms a task force together with the rescue tug Altai and fleet oiler RFS Akademik Pashin [4]. As such, she arrived at Limassol on September 13.
The departure of the RFS Akademik Pashin was reported at 19:30 local time [5].

September 16
Amur class repair vessel PM-138 was reported in the Central Aegean Sea during the afternoon. The vessel is expected to be heading to the Black Sea [6].

September 17
Amur class repair vessel PM-138 was reported in the Northern Aegean Sea during the morning [7].

Gremyashchy class corvette RFS Gremyashchy was seen on satellite imagery docked in the naval base of Tartus, Syria [8].

The AIS signal of fleet oiler RFS Akademik Pashin was reported in a position South of Crete [9]. The vessel is on a western course and most likely travels together with Udaloy class destroyer RFS Vice-Admiral Kulakov and rescue tug Altai.

Four Improved Kilo class submarines are reported in the port of Tartus, Syria, based on satellite imagery [10]. Two of the submarines were reported as the RFS Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the RFS Volkhov [11].

September 18
Repair vessel PM-18 is still reported in the Northern Aegean during the morning hours [12]. During the afternoon she was reported southwest of Seddulbahir and headed to the Dardanelles in order to enter them during the early evening [13]. This was later confirmed by Tv Zvezda [14].

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