Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk47/2024

Task Force Composition

As reported by OSINT at the morning of Nov-23


Weekly Brief
A period of heightened activity has ended with the vessels all present in the port of Tartus.
The exception being Stereguschy class corvette Merkury which was reported in the Skagerrak between Denmark an Norway. The vessel most likely departed the Mediterranean directly following her port visit at Algiers, Algeria, during the previous week. Her passage at the Strait of Gibraltar went unnoticed by OSINT sources.

Daily events
November 20
Frigates Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Grigorovich, together with Improved Kilo class submarine Novorossiysk and fleet oiler Yelnya were observed in the port of Tartus [1].

November 21
Steregushchy class corvette Merkury was reported in the Skagerak during the morning [2].

Popular posts from this blog

The Russian Navy and the fall of Tartus

With the fall of the Al-Assad regime in Syria, the Syrian rebels allegedly gave Russia 48 hours to vacate their military presence in the naval base at Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase. It seems unlikely that Russia can broker a diplomatic deal to remain present in Tartus. It is expected that Russia will have to vacate its naval presence somewhere at the beginning of week 50. As such, the Russian Navy will now have to look what options, if any, it has to maintain some sort of maritime presence in the Mediterranean. Why Tartus mattered The geographic location of Tartus made it an important strategic position for Russia. Located at the very end of the Eastern Mediterranean it was in a region where NATO/western maritime presence was limited compared to the Western and Central parts of the Mediterranean. The closest maritime base of importance for NATO is located at Souda Bay, Crete, which is located at the transition from Central to Eastern Mediterranean. Operating from Tartus meant tha...
Read more

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 rep...
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk48/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Nov-27 Weekly Brief A new intelligence collection vessel, the Yantar, has entered the Mediterranean. Since the vessel operates without an escort, a refueling stop at Algiers was expected in order for the vessel to reach the Eastern Mediterranean. The vessel is designed as an oceanographic vessel meaning that she is specialized in mapping the undersea environment. Russia uses these vessels to locate and map underwater infrastructure such as data cables. Over the next months, the Yantar will be operating in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Daily Events November 25 Intelligence collection vessel Yantar passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean [ 1 ]. November 26 Sanctioned Russian cargo vessel Lady Mariia passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel is known for transporting weapons and military equipment [ 2 ]. November 27 The intelligence collection vessel Yantar reportedl...
Read more