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]

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