Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of April 02 Weekly Brief Reports about Russian naval activity in the Mediterranean are increasing and show a picture of the heightened naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Both Surface Action Groups were at sea during the beginning of the week as no cruisers and destroyers were observed in Tartus. The SAG centered on the Northern Fleet warships continues to operate South of Crete. Possibly she is keeping watch on joint French-Greek naval exercises. Repair vessel PM-82 did leave Tartus and has been operating near Crete since March 28. Her deployment is unusual as she is basically a floating workshop designed to repair vessels in the absence of a dedicated base. Her deployment near Crete where at least one SAG is operating suggest that there could be mechanical breakdowns in this SAG. The departure of the Vice-Admiral Paromov and her appearing near the Suez Canal could indicate that she might go the Red Sea or that she is...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of March 26 Weekly Brief  The Russian Navy continues to operate at least one surface action group south of Crete. The reported SAG is the once centered on the vessels of the Northern Fleet, most likely because the Admiral Kasatonov boost more vertical launch cells for Kalibr missies compared to the Grigorovich class. From their position south of Crete, these vessels can block the direct approach towards Tartus, Syria, or the entrance to the Aegean Sea. Having just refueled, this SAG is expected to remain in place during the coming days. Daily Events March 25 A surface action group is reported at sea at an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean. Slava class cruiser Marshal Ustinov, Udaloy class destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov and Gorshkov class frigate Admiral Kasatonov of the Northern Fleet operated as a task force. All three vessels conducted refueling operations with Kaliningradneft tanker Vyazma. The refueling took pla...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of March 19 Weekly Brief Fragmented information at the end of the week indicates that the Russian task force is operating in relatively large numbers in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Both Slava class cruisers operate in the Ionian Sea where they keep monitoring the US, French and Italian tri-carrier exercises. It is doubtful if these two cruisers operate without their escorts but these escort ships have not yet been detected and/or reported through OSINT. A secondary force operates in the Eastern Mediterranean, possibly in cooperation with an Improved Kilo Class submarine. Their purpose is less known and could range from training to acting as a covering force for the Slava class cruisers. The fleet tanker Vyazma operates south of Crete where it can support both groups. There are unconfirmed reports of an Akula class submarine operating in the Mediterranean. If true, the submarine will most likely attempt to detect and ...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of March 12 Weekly Brief OSINT remains strongly focusses on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting in fewer reports and observations regarding the Russian task force in the Mediterranean. There is a high probability that the vessels however remained in port in Tartus due to a constraint in logistics.  Daily Events March 05 Amur class repair vessel PM-82 entered the eastern Mediterranean during the morning and continues her transit towards the port of Tartus [ 1 ]. Fleet oiler Vyazma is reported in a position south of Limassol and returning towards the port of Tartus [ 2 ]. The vessel most likely is supporting a Russian task force operating in the eastern Mediterranean. The vessel probably heads towards Tartus after Cyprus announced that Russian vessels are being denied entry to Limassol [ 3 ]. March 06 Amur class repair vessel PM-82 arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus during the morning [ 4 ].