Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk41/2021

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at noon of October 16


Weekly Brief
Small fleet tanker RFS Vice-Admiral Paromov, the lead vessel of Project 03182 small seagoing tankers, held several replenishment at sea exercises at an unspecified location on October 16. The exercise was characterized by the wide variety of techniques, materials transferred and types of receiving vessels. The exercise most likely served as a thorough test aimed to see how well Project 03182 tankers operate and are capable of supporting Russian warships. Being the lead ship of her class and the only one in operation so far, she is the only vessel capable for conducting these tests. The result of this exercise will determine how well the vessels of Project 03812 are and how they are to be deployed in Russia's future naval operations.

Other naval activity was largely restricted to planned rotation, supply of the Russian forces in Syria and the return of the rescue tug Captain Gurev.
Limited naval training was reported on October 13 with the task force exercising the protection of its vessels against enemy divers. This is an exercise that occurs on a regular basis.

Daily Brief

October 13
The Russian task force held an anti-submarine sabotage defense exercise which involved vessels of the Black Sea Fleet. According to the training scenario, a group of saboteurs conducted a reconnaissance of the vessels which were anchored at an unprotected roadstead and placed an explosive device on the hull of one of the vessels. The crews were instructed to monitor the underwater situation and succeeded in capturing the saboteurs. One Grachonok class patrol vessel was reported in this exercise.
Later on, the sailors practiced live firing at a target simulating a floating explosive device and threw hand held grenades. These grenades are used to cause shockwaves in the water, forcing potential hostile divers to come to the surface [1].

Tapir class landing ship RFS Orsk passed the Bosporus and headed towards the Syrian port of Tartus. The vessel was seen with at least one camouflaged BTR-type armored personnel carrier on its deck [2].

October 14
Rescue tug Captain Gurev passed through the Bosporus and entered the Black Sea [3].

October 15
Buyan-M class corvette RFS Ingushetia transited the Bosporus and returned to the Black Sea following a 99-day deployment in the Mediterranean [4]. The transit was recorded around 07:25 local time [5].

October 16
Small fleet tanker RFS Vice-Admiral Paromov held a replenishment at sea exercise at an unspecified location in the Mediterranean [6]. The vessel transferred both materials, fuel and lubricants both at anchor as on the move. The receiving vessels were the Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Essen, the Buyan-M class corvette RFS Vyshny Volochek and the Bykov class patrol vessel RFS Vasily Bykov [7].

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