The Presence of Russian Warships in the Mediterranean Sea as of 9 March 2022

The Monitoring Group
of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies

* * *

1. The Composition of the Russian Naval Group in the Mediterranean Sea

As of 00:00 (Kyiv time) on 9 March 2022, there are 13 ships and 5 support vessels of the four Russian fleets in the Mediterranean Sea, including 9 attack missile ships:

1. The missile cruiser (011) Varyag, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Federation (PF), according to NATO classification - a Slava-class missile cruiser. 

2. The missile cruiser (055) Marshal Ustinov, Northern Fleet (NF), a Slava-class missile cruiser. 

3. The missile frigate (494) Admiral Grigorovich, the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF), a Krivak V-class guided missile frigate.

4. The large anti-submarine ship (564) Admiral Tributs, the Pacific Fleet (PF), a Udaloy-class guided-missile destroyer.

5. The large anti-submarine ship (626) Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation (NF), a Udaloy-class guided-missile destroyer.

6. The missile frigate (431) Admiral Kasatonov, the Northern Fleet (NF), an Admiral Gorshkov class frigate.

7. The missile corvette (626) Orekhovo Zuevo, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation (BSF), a Buyan-M-class guided missile corvette. 

8. The missile submarine (261) Novorossiysk, the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF), an Improved Kilo-class conventional attack submarine.

9. The missile submarine (265) Krasnodar, the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF), an Improved Kilo-class conventional attack submarine.

On 28 February 2022, Turkey announced that it had closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles in accordance with the 1936 Montreux Convention, which prohibits the passage of warships of warring countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu informed:

"Russia has announced that four of its ships will cross the straits on 27-28 February, three of which are not registered at bases in the Black Sea. We told Russia not to send these ships, and Russia said that the ships would not cross the straits," Cavusoglu said. Earlier, Reuters reported that at least four Russian ships - two destroyers, a frigate, and a reconnaissance ship - were waiting for Turkey's decision to move from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. 

According to the Monitoring Group, these ships were:

1. The large anti-submarine ship (564) Admiral Tributs, the Pacific Fleet (PF), a Udaloy-class guided-missile destroyer.

2. The large anti-submarine ship (626) Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation (NF), a Udaloy-class guided-missile destroyer.

3. The missile frigate (431) Admiral Kasatonov, the Northern Fleet (NF), an Admiral Gorshkov class frigate or the missile frigate (494) Admiral Grigorovich, (BSF), a Krivak V-class guided missile frigate.

4. The reconnaissance ship Kildin (BSF) or the reconnaissance ship Vasiliy Tatishchev (BF).

It should be noted that this decision was made by Turkey due to strong diplomatic pressure from Ukraine. According to our data, on the first day of the Russian attack - 24 February 2022 - the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara sent several harsh notes demanding an immediate ban on the passage of Russian warships through the Turkish straits.

For detailed information on the presence of warships of the Black Sea and other Russian fleets in the Mediterranean, see Table 1.

2. Strengthening the Russian Naval Group in the Black Sea due to the Redeployment of Ships From the Mediterranean in Early 2022

Since the beginning of 2022, the Russian Federation has redeployed 20 warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, including 14 ships of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as 6 ships from the Northern and Baltic Fleets (3 from each).

The formation of a huge "Mediterranean Squadron" of the Russian Navy in February 2022, using the Northern, Baltic, and Pacific Fleets’ ships allowed the Russian Black Sea Fleet to return a large number of ships to the Black Sea a few days (weeks) before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

In addition, Russia redeployed 7 amphibious assault ships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, including 6 major amphibious assault ships of the Northern and Baltic Fleets.

On 26 January 2022, 3 major amphibious assault ships of the Baltic Fleet entered the Mediterranean Sea via the Strait of Gibraltar. They entered the Black Sea on 8 February 2022:

1. (130) Korolev, Ropucha class, Project 775
2. (102) Kaliningrad, Ropucha class, Project 775
3. (127) Minsk, Ropucha class, Project 775

On 27 January 2022, 3 major amphibious assault ships of the Northern Fleet entered via the Strait of Gibraltar:

1. (117) Petr Morgunov, Ivan Gren class, Project 11711
2. (012) Olenegorskiy Gornyak, Ropucha class, Project 775
3. (016) Georgiy Pobedonosets, Ropucha class, Project 775

Thus, Russia has managed to form an unprecedented group of major amphibious assault ships in the Black Sea. Nominally, it consists of 13 ships - 6 "guests" and 7 major amphibious assault ships of the Black Sea Fleet (one of them is under repair).

Due to this, Russia has got the opportunity to demonstrate amphibious operations in the Black Sea and carry them out in the Sea of Azov.

However, the fact that Russia has failed to redeploy additional powerful missile surface combatants to the Black Sea has called into question the effectiveness of a possible amphibious operation on the Ukrainian Black Sea coast.

* * *

Table 1. The Presence of Warships of the Black Sea and Other Fleets of the Russian Federation in the Mediterranean Sea as of 09 March 2022

* * *

Table 2. The Redeployment of Ships of the Black Sea and Other Fleets of the Russian Federation From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea as of 9 March 2022

* * *

This article has been prepared with the support of the European Union in Ukraine. The content of the article is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the EU