February 8, 2022
The Ropucha-class tank landing ship RFS Kaliningrad (102) passed through the Bosphorus on February 8, 2021.
Three Russian warships are now capable of landing tanks and troops ashore in the Black Sea as the Russian Navy begins massaging ships in the Mediterranean, according to photos of the warships provided to USNI News on Tuesday.
Three Ropucha-class tank landing ships – RFS Minsk (127), RFS Korolev (130) and RFS Kaliningrad (102) – entered the Black Sea, as shown in the photo of ship observer Yörük Işık. The same photographer documented the vessel entering the Dardanelles on Tuesday morning.
Each of these 4,080-ton amphibious tanks was able to land 10 main battle tanks and about 350 soldiers ashore.
According to the state-run TASS News Agency, the three ships are part of a task force of six amphibious warships made up of the Baltic and Northern Fleets that sailed into Russia's naval base in Syria as part of a series of naval exercises.
The task force includes Ropcha-class amphibians RTS Georgy Pobedonosets (016) and RTS Olenegorsky Gornyak (012) and the 6,600-tonne Ivan Gren-class RTS Pyotr Morgunov. Peter Morgunov was able to land 13 main battle tanks and 300 soldiers, as well as two attack helicopters. The Navy News reported that the Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine RTS Rostov-na-Donu (B-237) was a member of the task force.
The Ropucha-class tank landing ship RFS Kaliningrad (102) entered the Dardanelles on February 8, 2021. The photographs were provided by Yörük Işık and are used with permission
Last month, the group's ships departed from a Russian enclave in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea near Sweden. According to the Gothenburg Post, the exercises near Swedish waters prompted Stockholm to send troops to strengthen The Island of Gotland.
According to Navy News, all seven ships will arrive in the Black Sea this weekend.
A U.S. defense official confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday that a U.S. destroyer was operating near a task force in the North Aegean Sea.
At the same time, Russia also sent two 11,500-ton missile "Slava" class cruisers and escort ships to the Mediterranean. On 2 February, the Pacific Fleet's Slava-class RFS Varyag (011), Udaloy-class destroyer RTS Admiral Tributs (564) and fleet tanker Boris Butoma entered the Eastern Mediterranean from the Suez Canal.
The northern fleet's flagship vessel, the Slava-class cruiser RTS Marshal Ustinov (055), has been operating off the coast of Ireland for the last week. Ship observers reported that it had entered the Mediterranean on Monday via the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The Russian fleet had planned exercises off the coast of Ireland but were relocated after an outcry from Irish fishermen. The Russian Navy's third Slava-class ship, the RTS Moskva (121), was stationed in the Black Sea.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the Kremlin has deployed 140 ships around the world as part of a series of related exercises.
Marshal Ustinov, a Slava-class guided-missile cruiser, leaves North Morsk, the base of russia's Northern Fleet. Photo of the Russian Ministry of Defense
"The exercise will cover the seas adjacent to Russian territory and important operational areas in the world's oceans." Separate exercises will be conducted in the Mediterranean, North And Okhotsk Sea, the north-eastern Atlantic and the Pacific," TASS reported.
The deployment of the Russian Navy and the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian troops on the Ukrainian border lasted for several months. U.S. officials told reporters last week that Russia's initial advance into Ukraine would require about 70 percent of Russia's troops.
Some analysts say the expanded invasion will involve Russian troops occupying Odessa, Ukraine's largest port city in the Black Sea.
"If Russia's goal includes preventing Ukraine from going to sea in the future, it must occupy Odessa." Some predict that this will be achieved through amphibious and air landings near Odessa, which will be linked to mechanized forces approaching from the east," Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote last month.
On 6 February 2022, Formations of Carrier Strike Group 8 (CSG), ITS Cavour Strike Group and Charles de Gaulle (TF 473) crossed the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. Navy photo
In response, the United States sent Harry W. Bush to the United States. The USS Truman aircraft carrier strike group remained in the Mediterranean and conducted CSG exercises with other Allied ships during the NATO-led Neptune strike exercise that ended Feb. 4.
In addition to the aircraft carrier Harry In addition to the S. Truman (CVN-75), aircraft carrier 1 and strike escort, the Neptune Assault was also equipped with the Italian Navy F-35B aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH-550). The group also collaborated with the French naval aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91).