Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated on Tuesday that three Russian warships wanted to cross the Straits, but Turkey demanded Russia to withdraw the request as they do not belong to the Black Sea Fleet, and Russia has withdrawn the request without insisting the request.
TurDef has investigated the Russian warships cruising last week in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the open-source information, the Russian Navy had 14 ships in the Mediterranean Sea. As Minister Çavuşoğlu said, the vessels were surface combatants and could not be submarines or oilers. Two submarines and three oilers are excluded from the list. Among nine ships, the ships that do not belong to the Black Sea Fleet are the “usual suspects”. In such scenario, Marshal Ustinov (055) - Slava-class cruiser, Varyag (121) Slava-class cruiser, Vice-Admiral Kulakov (626) - Udaloy class destroyer, - Admiral Tributs (564) - Udaloy class destroyer - Admiral Kasatonov (461) - Gorshkov class frigate become the suspected ships as they do not belong to the Black Sea Fleet.
Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov was assigned to the 43rd Missile Ship Division of the Russian Northern Fleet, whose homeport is Severomorsk. The Guided-missile cruiser has since been deployed to the Mediterranean Sea since 2017.
Russian destroyer Admiral Tributs is assigned the Pacific Fleet. Its primary mission is anti-submarine warfare.
Vice-Admiral Kulakov was in service with the Northern Fleet until March 1991, then travelled to Severomorsk naval base. In 2021, Vice-Admiral Kulakov was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.
Admiral Kasatonov is assigned to the 43rd Missile Ship Division of the Russian Northern Fleet in Severomorsk. The ship conducted anti-submarine missions and tested a new anti-submarine weapon system Otvet.
Charles Lister from Middle East Institute stated that Flota Kasatonov was blocked from crossing the Bosphorus this past weekend. According to the last time ships were seen, TurDef assumes that besides Kasatonov, Vice Admiral Kulakov (626) and Admiral Tributs (564) did not cross the straits.
