Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk15/2023

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at the morning of Apr-13

Weekly Brief
Russia surprisingly acted as a middleman between Syria and Libya by providing the means to deliver artillery from Syria to the Haftar regime in eastern Libya. The move is surprising because of the huge artillery losses Russia is suffering in Ukraine for over a year now.

The clear motives behind this act are unclear and can range from Russia seeking to strengthen its position across Africa by propping up regimes or from Syria deciding to rather support Libya then Russia with military equipment. 

Daily Events
April 06
Amphibious landing vessels Alexander Otrakovsky and Ivan Gren departed the port of Tartus, Syria [1].

April 08
Frigate Admiral Grigorovich reportedly provided an escort for the amphibious landing vessels Alexander Otrakovsky and Ivan Gren as they passed between Cyprus and Greece [1].

Both amphibious landing vessels reportedly arrived in the Port of Tobruk, Libya to offload artillery [2].

April 09
Amphibious landing vessels Alexander Otrakovsky and Ivan Gren departed the port of Tobruk, Lybia [2].

April 11
Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus confirmed the presence of the Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, Steregushchy class corvette Merkury, Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuevo, Altay class fleet oiler Kola, Moma class intelligence collection vessel Kildin, Ropucha class landing vessel Alexander Otrakovsky and Ivan Gren class landing vessel Ivan Gren [3].

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