At the next stage of the drills, the combat teams of the large amphibious assault ships will deliver artillery fire against a notional enemy’s coastal targets that will precede a seaborne assault on the shore of a Black Sea Fleet combat training range.
The Black Sea Fleet’s marine corps stationed in Crimea and the Krasnodar Region embarked military hardware and personnel on the Fleet’s large amphibious assault ships in a final combat readiness check after the winter training period, the Russian TASS Agency reported.
“At the initial stage of the exercise, the marine infantry formed combat hardware convoys and made marches to the areas of embarking on the large amphibious assault ships Tsezar Kunikov, Azov, and Saratov. Upon embarking on the large amphibious assault ships, the personnel complied with the embarkation time limits, following which the ships deployed to the sea and formed a naval group at sea,” the press office said in a statement.
At the next stage of the drills, the combat teams of the large amphibious assault ships will deliver artillery fire against a notional enemy’s coastal targets that will precede a seaborne assault on the shore of a Black Sea Fleet combat training range, the statement says.
“The exercise is running under a plan of control inspection of the Black Sea Fleet’s forces for the winter training period under the single tactical design of the final check of the Southern Military District’s troops,” the press office said.
Naval Post comment: Amid the high tension in the region, Russia has reinforced its naval power in the Black Sea for two weeks. At the beginning of April, more than ten assets from Caspian Fleet, including Serna-class landing crafts and Shmel-class gunboats deployed in the Black Sea by passing the Don-Volga waterway. Though many portals considered this power shifting as preparation against Ukraine, the size of the force was insignificant. After the U.S. cancelled the Black Sea deployment of two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Russian LSTs from Baltic Fleet passed the Bosphorus and entered the Black Sea. Russia deployed around 40 warships (mainly amphibious ships) in the Black Sea from other regions. Though the Russian Ministry of Defence announced the purpose of this power transfer as a combat-readiness check, this wasn’t a convincing statement. To sum up, Russia has deployed many amphibious assets in Crimea, which is a clue of Russia’s intention if the crisis evolves into a war.
