Black Sea Fleet deployments-Wk01/2022

Fleet Overview



Weekly Brief

Orthodox Christmas limited naval activity during Week 01 with limited training by the RFS Admiral Essen, the scheduled arrival of new vessels for the Black Sea Fleet and an air defense exercise which involved the naval aviation regiment.

Daily Events

January 03
Grigorovich class frigate RFS Admiral Essen held flight deck operations in the Black Sea. A Ka-27PL helicopter conducted 10 landings and take-offs when the vessel was on the move as well as at anchor [1]. The Ka-27PL helicopter involved was identified as the Yellow-35 and at least one landing was conducted from astern. The crew was also seen training on how to secure the helicopter to the flight deck [2].

January 07
Logistic support vessel Vsevolod Bobrov was observed passing through the Bosporus and heading towards the Black Sea. The vessel was travelling independently [3].

Aleksandrit class minehunter RFS Georgy Kurbatov and rescue tug SB-739 Vasily Bekh passed through the Bosporus. The minehunter was first observed moving under her own power but was later seen being taken in tow by the SB-739 [4]. Though not confirmed, the fact that she was taken under town during the passage could suggest a breakdown of propulsion or steering. A need to conserve fuel could also be one of the reasons for the tow.

January 08
Naval base personnel have been training with rescue forces such as rescue tugs and fire-fighting vessels from the Rescue squad. The training is focused on interoperability during times of bad weather conditions and storms [5].

Logistic support vessel Vsevolod Bobrov arrived at the naval base of Novorossiysk around 1030Z [6].

January 8
Air defense and naval aviation forces were involved in an air defense exercise over Crimea. The goal of the exercise was to repel an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). S-400 and Pantsir-S systems were used to detect and track the UAVs at low altitudes. Su-24MR, Su-27 and Su-30SM aircraft were involved as well but their role was not reported [7]. Most likely, these aircraft played the role of the attacking UAVs.

Rescue tug SB-739 Vasily Bekh and Aleksandrit class minehunter RFS Georgy Kurbatov allegedly have arrived at the naval base of Sevastopol around 1050Z [8].

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