Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Jul-29 Weekly Brief The arrival of a US Carrier Task Group (CTG) in the Eastern Mediterranean resulted in the Russian Task Force becoming more active with all warships absent from Tartus by the beginning of the week. The Russians have been confirmed operating at least one vessel, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, close to the US carrier group. The Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo could also be operating close to the US CTG but her presence was not yet verified by OSINT means. Russian naval activity is expected to remain on a heightened level as long as the US carrier task group operates in the Eastern Mediterranean. Daily Events July 24th Imagery of the port of Tartus showed the presence of the fleet oiler Vyazma, the logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paramov and the rescue tug Sergei Balk. All warships appear to be absent [ 1 ] July 25th Frigate Admiral Gorshkov is believed to be spotted by commercial satellites while ...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Jul-22 Weekly Brief Following a period of inactivity, the task force is gradually increasing its deployments at sea. Frigate Admiral Gorshkov was reported at sea during the beginning of the week, holding air defense exercises at an undisclosed location, presumed to be in the Eastern Mediterranean. Minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov remained absent from port, the vessel most likely patrols in front of Tartus, monitoring the underwater environment. Daily Events July 19th Frigate Admiral Gorshkov held an air defense exercise while at sea in the Mediterranean. The exercise involved the use of a Ka-27 helicopter, most likely to simulate the enemy air contact [ 1 ]. Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus also showed that the Aleksandrit class minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov was at sea on this day [ 2 ]. July 21st Frigate Admiral Gorshkov has returned to the port of Tartus while the minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov is still at sea. Cloud co...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Jul-15 Weekly Brief Only the Gorshkov class frigate Admiral Gorshkov appears to be active in the Mediterranean with the remainder of the task force staying inside the port of Tartus. The reason for the deployment of the Admiral Gorshkov is unknown. On one hand a US Navy carrier group is holding exercises near Albania which in the past drew the attention of Russian surface vessels. On the other hand, a high value cargo vessels, presumably loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain, is moving through the Aegean Sea and heading towards Tartus. The Admiral Gorshkov was already observed escorting high value merchant ships in the previous weeks. Daily Events July 8th Satellite imagery of Tartus showed the absence of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov. Present inside the port were the corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo, minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov, Kilo class submarine Krasnodar, fleet oiler Vyazma, logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paramov and rescu...

On July 11th, two Ropucha class landing vessels were used in a civilian role ferrying civilian traffic across the Kerch Strait. This use of amphibious landing vessels breaks a pattern, namely the use of these vessels to transport heavy military equipment from Novorossiysk towards Sevastopol in support of Russian military logistics for the troops fighting in southern Ukraine. It also raises questions with regards to the Kerch Bridge. If civilian traffic needs to be diverted and transported across the Kerch Strait by amphibious landing vessels, could this indicate that the bridge is facing severe limitations in the amount of traffic it can support? Background Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Navy significantly increased the amphibious lift capacity of the Black Sea Fleet. This increase was done by transferring three Ropucha class landing vessels of both the Northern Fleet as the Baltic Fleet. These six vessels entered the Black Sea o n February 8th, 2022 and have r...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Jul-08 Weekly Brief Very little naval activity was observed during the week with the task force being largely confined to port at Tartus. Daily Events July 2 Aside from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the minehunter Vladimir Emelyanov, the task force was observed moored inside the port of Tartus, Syria [ 1 ]. July 5 The entire task force was observed moored inside the harbor of Tartus, Syria [ 2 ].