Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Aug-31 Weekly Brief Limited activity inside the Mediterranean as the Russian Navy is deploying in the near vicinty. Amphibious landing vessel Ivan Grenn is heading back from Arica after deploying military personnel to Malabo in Equatorial Guinea [ a ] while Black Sea Fleet Improved Kilo class submarine Novorossiysk is most likely heading towards the Mediterranean after departing the Baltic Sea on August 29th [ b ]. Daily Events August 26 The Pioneer, a sanctioned LNG tanker, was observed transferring Russian LNG to the New Energy tanker at an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean [ 1 ]. August 27 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus confirmed the presence of Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, frigate Admiral Gorshkov, fleet oiler Akademik Pashin and rescue tug Alatau [ 2 ].

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Aug-24 Weekly Brief A significant increase took place during this week with the arrival of a third frigate, the Neustrashimy. The Mediterranean task force currently operates the most capable frigates of the Baltic, Northern and Black Sea Fleets. Though the Neustrashimy lacks modern weaponry in the form of vertical launch cells equipped with Kalibr and Tsirkon missiles, it nevertheless brings surface and anti-submarine warfare capabilities to the task force. Daily Events August 17 Satellite imagery of Tartus showed the presence of Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the fleet oiler Akademik Pashin. Oiler Yaz was observed as well delivering fuel [ 1 ]. August 18 Frigate Neustrashimy and fleet oiler Yelnya are reported in the Strait of Gibraltar and entering the Mediterranean [ 2 ]. August 20 Logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov passed through the Strait of Gibraltar around 2200 local tim...

August 07 The Artic Group held an anti-submarine exercise in the eastern part of the Barents Sea with the frigate Admiral Kulakov launching her Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter. The helicopter deployed her dipping sonar during this exercise [ link ]. The vessels of the Artic Group were observed sailing in various formations during this exercise [ link ]. August 13 The Admiral Kulakov & Alexander Otrakovsky arrived at the settlement of Dudinka with the Admiral Kulakov being moored and the Alexander Otrakovsky located in the middle of the Yenisei river [ link ]. Fleet oiler Sergey Osipov and rescue tug Altay were observed south of Dikson, most likely at anchor [ link ].

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Aug-17 Weekly Brief Movements of auxiliaries continue with oiler Yaz most likely delivering aviation gas towards Syria while the support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov appears to be leaving the Mediterranean. Corvette Merkury provided escort of the Yaz as it entered the Eastern Mediterranean though her presence was not visually confirmed, most likely due to cloud cover. Daily Events August 10 AIS data showed that logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov departed the port of Tartus [ 1 ]. August 12 AIS data places the logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov southeast of Crete [ 1 ]. Satellite imagery of the part of Tartus confirmed the pressence of Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, the Buyan-M class corvette Mekury and the fleet oiler Akademik Pashin [ 2 ]. August 14 Logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov is reported 210 nautical miles east of Malta. The vessel is heading westward...

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Aug-09 Weekly Brief The task forces appears to be concentrating once again at the port of Tartus with no specific naval activity reported. Two Russian tankers entered the Mediterranean this week with the Yaz most likely carrying aviation fuel to Syria.  Daily Events August 4 Oiler Yaz entered the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar [ 1 ]. August 5 Frigate Admiral Gorshkov and fleet oiler Akademik Pashin are reported between Crete and Cyprus, heading eastwards towards Tartus [ 2 ]. Russian tanker General Skobelev entered the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar [ 3 ]. August 7 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus revealed the presence of frigates Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Grigorovich, the fleet oiler Akademik Pashin, the logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov and the fleet tug Alatau [ 4 ].

Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Aug-03 Weekly Brief Low naval activity is reported with most vessels remaining at Tartus. The Admiral Gorshkov and oiler Akademik Pashin are making steady progress towards Tartus, Syria. Meanwhile, the fleet oiler Altay left the Mediterranean, her role now being taken over by the Akademik Pashin. Daily Events July 30 Frigate Admiral Gorshkov and fleet oiler Akademik Pashin reportedly departed the port of Oran, Algiers [ 1 ]. August 01 Frigate Admiral Gorshkov and fleet oiler Akademik Pashin were observed south of Sardinia. Both vessels were on an eastern course [ 2 ]. August 02 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus revealed the presence of the Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, frigate Admiral Grigorovich, Steregushchy class corvette Merkury and logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov [ 2 ]. Altay class fleet oiler Kola departed the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar [ 3 ] [ 4 ].