The Russian Black Sea Fleet includes various warships. What they are and how many there are, ICTV Facts learned from military expert Alexander Kovalenko.
How many ships does Russia have – the composition of the Black Sea Navy
– Calling it a fleet now is no longer entirely correct, because it is more like a flotilla. The Russians lost their 1st rank ship, the missile cruiser Moscow, back in 2022. How can a fleet be called a fleet without having a ship of 1st rank? – Kovalenko thinks.
The Black Sea Fleet has six patrol ships of the far sea zone – frigates and corvettes mainly of projects 1135 and 11356R and corvettes of project 20380.
These ships are dangerous because, for example, 11356R is a carrier of Caliber cruise missiles.
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On top of everything else, the enemy has at his disposal five more large landing ships that he can use for logistics. These are mainly projects 775 and 1171 Tapir.
The Russians also use Project 636.3 Varshavyanka submarines to attack Ukrainian territory; they have five submarines.
– The sixth was the Rostov-on-Don submarine, which was destroyed in 2023 while undergoing repair work in a dry dock in Sevastopol, the expert recalls.
Apart from everything else, they have seven more small missile ships of Project 22800 Karakurt, as well as 21631 Buyan-M and 1239 Sivuch.
These are the most dangerous small missile ships because they carry sea-launched Caliber cruise missiles.
The listed ships are the most dangerous component of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the expert notes. Some are missile carriers, others, such as large landing ships, are also a threat.
– “Now there is no great threat of landing in the Odessa and Nikolaev regions,” Kovalenko emphasizes.
But these ships are used for transportation between the mainland of the Russian Federation and the temporarily occupied Crimea. They mainly transport equipment and ammunition. These can be not only artillery shells, but also kamikaze drones Shahed 131-136.
In addition, the Russian Black Sea Fleet includes:
- minesweepers;
- rescue boats and tugs;
- reconnaissance ships;
- tankers and other special purpose ships.
In which ports are Russian ships based?
Basing points of the Black Sea Fleet:
- Sevastopol;
- Feodosia;
- Donuzlav;
- Novorossiysk.
But in 2023, the Russians were forced to flee from their main base in Sevastopol to Novorossiysk, Kovalenko notes.
