Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk39/2022

Task Force Composition
As reported by OSINT at the morning of Oct-01

Weekly Brief
The departure of the Improved Kilo class submarine Novorossiysk continues the trend that the Russian Task Force is decreasing its activity in the Mediterranean. The high pace of deterrence patrols around Crete in the first months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine most likely result in a higher degree of attrition causing the need to conduct maintenance at specialized shipyards.

The Pacific Fleet task force has been observed being at anchor near the port of Tartus. Both the Slava Class cruiser Varyag and the Udaloy class destroyer Admiral Tributs show limited activity in recent weeks. Both vessels departed Vladivostok in December last year. Just as with the Krasnodar, the possibility of both these surface vessels departing back to their home base for maintenance and repairs increases with each week. So far, there have been no indications that both vessels will depart soon. 

The position of the Yasen class nuclear submarine Severodvinsk has not yet been reestablished through the means of OSINT. She will most likely keep close to large NATO formations in order to create a deterrence.

Daily Events

September 24
Rescue tug Sergey Balk and an Improved Kilo class submarine passed through the Strait of Gibraltar around 08:45 local time and entered into the Atlantic Ocean [1] [2].
The submarine was later identified as the Novorossiysk. The identification was done by the French Navy when the submarine passed through the Gulf of Gascogne [5].

September 25
Slave class cruiser Varyag arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus and has anchored outside the port [3].

September 27
Slava class cruiser Varyag was observed on satellite imagery while at anchor near the Syrian port of Tartus [3].

September 28
An Udaloy class destroyer was observed on satellite imagery near the Syrian port of Tartus. The destroyer is anchored south of the Slava class cruiser Varyag [4].
Currently, only the destroyer Admiral Tributs is active in the Mediterranean.

Popular posts from this blog

The Russian Navy and the fall of Tartus

With the fall of the Al-Assad regime in Syria, the Syrian rebels allegedly gave Russia 48 hours to vacate their military presence in the naval base at Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase. It seems unlikely that Russia can broker a diplomatic deal to remain present in Tartus. It is expected that Russia will have to vacate its naval presence somewhere at the beginning of week 50. As such, the Russian Navy will now have to look what options, if any, it has to maintain some sort of maritime presence in the Mediterranean. Why Tartus mattered The geographic location of Tartus made it an important strategic position for Russia. Located at the very end of the Eastern Mediterranean it was in a region where NATO/western maritime presence was limited compared to the Western and Central parts of the Mediterranean. The closest maritime base of importance for NATO is located at Souda Bay, Crete, which is located at the transition from Central to Eastern Mediterranean. Operating from Tartus meant tha...
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk49/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Dec-07 Weekly Brief The Russian Mediterranean Task Force appears to have made a demonstration in force before the departure of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov to her homeport. On December 2nd and 3rd, the entire task force departed the port of Tartus for a large scale naval exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean. The exercise was supported by coastal defense batteries and naval aviation and focused on coastal defense and surface warfare. Given the involvement of several services and the availability of a dedicated simulated surface target, it appears that this exercise was planned and coordinated in advance. This contradicts the general narrative of Week 49 where it was stated that the Russian task force was evacuating the port of Tartus given the fast advance of Syrian rebels in Northern Syria. The behavior of the Russian task force corresponds with previous observed patterns during moments of crisis in the region. The Russian ...
Read more

Russian Naval deployments during the Ukraine War

Image
March 17, 2022 At least six Russian warships were observed near Odessa. The warships maintained their distance and operated on the horizon. March 16, 2022 Several vessels entered the port of Sevastopol including the patrol vessel Vasily Bykov. The Bykov was rumored to be struck and sunk by a Ukrainian grad MLRS barrage near Odessa on March 07 dough this was never officially confirmed.  The visual confirmation of the vessel entering the port of Sevastopol undamaged indicates that if an MLRS attack took place, it did not struck the Bykov. Ropucha class landing vessel Kondopoga of the northern fleet allegedly also entered the port of Sevastopol. March 15, 2022 Several Russian warships and landing ships were spotted on commercial satellite imagery during the morning hours. The vessels were heading in the direction of Odessa.  The vessel leading the formation of landing ships appears to be minesweeper with her sweeping array deployed. During the evening, around 90 missiles were rep...
Read more