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spectrecrouton.bsky.social
Deep diving, original analysis and reporting on the Russian Navy and related maritime topics. Views expressed do not reflect those of my current or past employers, nor do they reflect the views of Vova (you know which one).
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How long does it take to complete initial deperming of new-construction Kilo-class submarines for the RF Navy?

[1/6] Spanish Navy Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate "Álvaro de Bazán" (F101) and patrol aircraft monitored RF Navy Baltic Fleet Sliva-class salvage/rescue tug "Yevgeniy Churov" and Black Sea Fleet Kilo-class diesel-electric sub operating in East Mediterranean Sea on 24 Feb. x.com/NATO_MARCOM/...

[1/3] Since 21:00 UTC on 24 Feb and continuing through 13:00 UTC on 25 Feb, a RF Navy Black Sea Fleet Kilo-class diesel-electric sub either (a) has been in an unidentified port (Alexandria, Egypt?) or (b) has been operating very near shore (Egypt?).

Multinational Naval Exercise KOMODO (MNEK) participants in 2025 (multiple sources); corrections welcomed

List of 21 February 2025 promotions of RF Navy admirals and generals

RF Navy Baltic Fleet Altay-class oiler "Yelnya" returned to Baltiysk after 235-day deployment (2 July 2024-21 February 2025)

RF Navy Northern Fleet Gren-class landing ship "Ivan Gren" arrived in Baltiysk by the 18:00 local hour on 21 February

M/V "Sparta II", which had been traveling with RF Navy Northern Fleet Gren-class landing ship "Ivan Gren" and Baltic Fleet Altay-class oiler "Yelnya", arrived at Baltiysk Pier 83 at 18:49 local time on 21 Feb; M/V "Sparta II", which arrived at Pier 83 on 20 Feb, has transferred to Pier 56

Future RF Navy Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine "Yakutsk" transferred from Admiralty Shipyards [1] to the physical fields monitoring station near Northern Shipyard [2] on 21 February for initial deperming

Future RF Navy Papanin-class ice-capable patrol ship "Ivan Papanin" transferred from Kronshtadt [1] to Admiralty Shipyards [2] on 21 February; "Ivan Papanin" had been operating out of Kronshtadt since late November 2024

RF Navy Northern Fleet Ropucha I-class landing ship "Aleksandr Otrakovskiy" arrived in Baltiysk by the 17:00 local hour on 20 February

M/V "Sparta", which had been traveling with RF Navy Northern Fleet Ropucha I-class landing ship "Aleksandr Otrakovskiy", arrived at Baltiysk Pier 83 at 15:22 local time on 20 Feb

Interesting fact: For construction of Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines at Admiralty Shipyards (2013-2025), it took an average of 110 days to proceed from submarine launch to initial degaussing; shortest time ("Ufa"): 70 days; longest time ("Staryy Oskol"): 161 days

[1/2] Lipetsk city official states that RF Navy CINC has decided that a future submarine to be built for the Northern Fleet will be named after the city since Kilo-class diesel-electric sub "Lipetsk" was stricken from service in the Northern Fleet

RF Navy Pacific Fleet Vishnya-class intelligence collection ship "Kareliya" (SSV-535) conducted a southwest transit of the Tsushima Strait on 16-17 Feb; ship likely conducted brief port call in Vladivostok to refuel (13-14 Feb) before continuing its patrol

How the RF MOD sues contractors to cover up its own mistakes zonkedemys.substack.com/p/not-paying...

Future RF Navy Petersburg-class diesel-electric submarine "Velikiye Luki" likely being escorted by salvage/rescue tug "SB-123" west through the Gulf of Finland bsky.app/profile/spec...

Future RF Navy Kamov-class (Project 14400) training vessel "Nikolay Kamov" transferred from Gorodets to Astrakhan between late October and mid-November 2024 for outfitting and sea trials; vessel laid down in June 2018, launched in April 2024

Future RF Navy Petersburg-class diesel-electric submarine "Velikiye Luki" departed Admiralty Shipyards on 16 February for additional sea trials; sub previously completed out-of-water maintenance in early January 2025 bsky.app/profile/spec...

RF Navy Pacific Fleet Steregushchiy II-class corvettes "Aldar Tsydenzhapov" and "Rezkiy", accompanied by Dubna-class oiler "Pechenga", arrived near Benoa (Bali, Indonesia), where a number of other foreign naval ships are currently loitering in advance of Multinational Naval Exercise KOMODO (MNEK)

Commanding Officer of RF Navy Black Sea Fleet Steregushchiy-class corvette "Merkuriy", Captain 2nd Rank Aleksandr Lavrentyev, has distinct facial features that make him easy to identify: perpetual dark area around eyes + ear shape/structure. Images from May 2023 (left) and February 2025 (right).

Status of RF Navy Intelligence Collection Ships

RF Navy Participation in Multinational Naval Exercise KOMODO (MNEK) - 2014-2025

RF Navy Vishnya-class intelligence collection ship "Kareliya" (SSV-535) operated near Okinawa and Kyushu on 1-8 February before entering the East China Sea on 9 February; ship has been deployed since 9 November 2024 (95 days) bsky.app/profile/spec...

RF Navy Pacific Fleet deployment of Steregushchiy-class corvettes (2022-2024) - excludes in-area exercises, unless foreign navies involved - excludes "Merkuriy", which has not transferred to Far East