Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk25/2023

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at the morning of Jun-24


Weekly Brief

A new weapons running cargo vessel might have appeared in the Mediterranean Sea. The merchant vessel Pizhma most likely serves the same role as the Sparta IV when it comes to transporting military cargo between Russia and Syria. The vessel was also escorted towards Tartus by the Admiral Gorshkov during Wk 24 and this week, suggesting that she is carrying an important cargo.

Submarine training operations might have been underway during the second half of the week. Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar was absent from Tartus together with the minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov. This most likely suggest training for the Krasnodar with the minehunter keeping watch and tracking the progress of the submarine.

Fleet oiler Kola departed the Mediterranean and is returning back towards the Baltic Sea. Her duty of supplying the Mediterranean task force has been taken over by the Vyazma. It seems highly likely that the Admiral Gorshkov will only return towards her home base at the Northern Fleet together with the Vyazma. Departure of the Vyazma will only happen when another fleet oiler has been dispatched towards the Mediterranean.

Daily Events

June 19
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that frigate Admiral Gorshkov rescued several people from a vessel in distress in Greek waters. The frigate was escorting the merchant vessel Pizhma towards Tartus and reacted to a distress call of the merchant vessel Avalon [1].

Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus confirmed the following vessels being in port, the Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar, Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Alexandrit class minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov, logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paramov and the rescue tug Sergey Balk [2].

June 20
The AIS signal of the icebreaker Aleksandr Sannikov was last observed south of Crete. The vessel is on an eastern course heading into the Eastern Mediterranean. The vessel originally departed Murmansk [3].

Fleet oiler Kola most likely passed Gibraltar on this day based on the presence of her AIS signal being detected north of Portugal on June 22nd. The passage through the Strait of Gibraltar was not visually reported.

June 22
Imagery of the port of Tartus revealed the presence of Russian warships. These vessels were identified as the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, Buyan M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo, fleet oiler Vyazma and support vessel Vice-Admiral Paramov. Also present were rescue tug Sergey Balk and the weapons cargo runners Sparta IV and Pizhma [4]

Popular posts from this blog

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 reported fir
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk42/2023

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Oct-21 Weekly Brief The task force continues to operate at sea with its maximum capacity it can deploy. Both corvettes are most likely covering the US naval deployments of the Gerald R. Ford carrier task force with fleet oiler Yelnya regularly sailing out of Tartus to refuel the vessels at sea. Daily Events October 14 Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar and the rescue tug Sergey Balk were visually observed passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and exiting the Mediterranean [ 1 ]. October 17 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus only showed the fleet oiler Yelnya present inside the harbor [ 2 ]. October 18 A radio signal belonging to the fleet oiler Yelnya was intercepted, placing the vessel in a position of 34.9° North, 35,8° East; just outside the port of Tartus [ 3 ].
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk41/2023

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Oct-14 Weekly Brief The Russian task force has been responding to the new situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the arrival of a US Navy carrier task force in the region. AGI vessel Kildin is keeping track of the carrier movements. At the same time, both corvettes departed Tartus, support by the Amur class repair vessel PM-82. Both corvettes most likely form a counterbalance to the US Navy presence and project power is support of local allies though the projected combat power falls far short of the deployed US maritime power in this region. Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar has been steadily heading towards the Strait of Gibraltar, escorted by rescue tug Sergey Balk. Both vessels will most likely transit on October 14th during the night to prevent visual observation. Daily Events October 09 Fleet oiler Yelnya replenished the Momo class intelligence collection vessel Kildin in a postion halfway Crete and Mersa Matr
Read more