Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk43/2022

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at the morning of Oct-29


Weekly Brief

Satellite observations of the port of Tartus at the beginning and ending of the week revealed that the vast majority of the vessels were at sea with only a limited number of warships and supporting vessels being reported at sea. The pressence of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Bush near Crete could have prompted the task force to sail out in an move of deterence.

Daily Events

October 22
Satellite imagery of the Port of Tartus showed the majority of the task force being out of the harbor and anchorage sites. The only vessels remaining inside the port were Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar, Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo and Amur class repair vessel PM-82 [1].

October 23
Fleet oiler Akademik Pashin was observed on satellite imagery at 85 nautical miles south of Pafos, Cyprus. The vessel is on an eastern heading towards the Syrian port of Tartus. No additional vessels were observed in the near vicinity of the oiler [2].

October 27
Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus and its surroundings showed several Russian warships moored or anchored. The vessels inside the harbor were identified as the Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar, the fleet oiler Akademik Pashin and the Amur class repair vessel PM-82. The Gorshkov class frigate Admiral Kasatonov was observed at the anchorage of Tartus [3].

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