Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk22/2025

 Daily Events
May 29
Frigate Admiral Grigorovich was observed on satellite imagery while anchored near the Syrian port of Tartus link.

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 Operations - Weekly Situation Report - Week 27/2025

Image
Weekly Overview Northern Fleet Tuesday July 01 A Tu-142 maritime patrol flight conducted an 11-hour long patrol over the Barents Sea link . Wednesday July 02 Minesweeper Kotelnich is holding mine countermeasure exercises with the vessel searching for and destroying simulated minefields. The vessel will also hold damage control exercises link . Baltic Fleet Monday June 30 Steregushchy class corvette Boiky held electronic launches of its Uran anti-ship missiles against a group of simulated enemy warships. The exercise was followed up by air defense and electronic warfare exercises link . The vessel was later observed departing the Baltic Sea while escorting the weapons runner Sparta and tanker General Skobelev link . Anti-drone exercises took place at the naval bases of Baltiysk and Saint-Petersburg with Su-27 fighters simulating an UAV attack against the naval bases. Base units set up air defense and electronic warfare measures to repel the simulated airstrike link . Vasily Byk...
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk20/2025

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of May-12 Weekly Brief The Russian Navy appears to have established a refueling point northwest of Al Hoceima, Morocco in order to support out of area operations by the Russian Navy. Steregushchy class corvette Boiky made use of this refueling point on May 12th to refuel before heading back to the Atlantic Ocean and heading south along the African coast, while escorting two Russian merchant vessels. The arrival of the sea going tug Evgeniy Churov might indicate a new submarine deployment in the Mediterranean. Previously, this tug supported the Improved Kilo class submarine Krasnodar during her deployment in the Western Mediterranean. Daily Events May 12 Russian Steregushchy class corvette Boiky and Russian cargo vessels Siyanie Severa and Patria entered the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar during the morning hours link . The vessels then proceeded to an area northwest of Al Hoceima, Morocco where the corvette Boiky...
Read more