Warships and exercises of the Russian Federation: what is happening in the ​​Azov Sea

Now there are six Russian warships in the ​​Azov Sea.

There were no new overlaps in the sea areas of the ​​​​Azov Sea – there are enough closed areas, including opposite Mariupol. This was announced on Facebook by the head of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies Andrii Klymenko.

On Sunday, February 20th, 6 ships of the Russian fleet were identified in the ​​Azov Sea:

• small anti-submarine ship Yeisk (corvette) project 1124M
• patrol ship (corvette) Pavel Derzhavin project 22160
• large landing ship (LLS) Novocherkassk, project 775, according to classification of NATO Ropucha
• LLS Caesar Kunikov – project 775, according to classification of NATO Ropucha
• LLS Saratov – project 1171 “Tapir”, according to classification of NATO Alligator,
• missile boat “Naberezhnye Chelny” project 12411, according to classification of NATO Tarantul-class corvettes.

Klymenko also recalled that now, on the opposite side of the Crimea, the Russian Federation is conducting exercises with the participation of 6 landing ships (the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation – 3, the Baltic – 3), a missile boat, a minesweeper, 3 powerful rescue and tugboats of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation and a coast guard corvette of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The location of the exercises is in the west of the Bakal Spit (Razdolnensky district on the northwestern coast of the occupied Crimea, between the peninsula and the city of Skadovsk in the Kherson region.

Recall, on February 9th, it became known about the plans of the Russian fleet to conduct large-scale exercises in the Black and Azov Seas, with the overlap of a significant part of the water area. Because of these exercises, there was a risk of a complete blockage of approaches to Ukrainian ports in Berdiansk and Mariupol and serious complications for navigation in the Black Sea.