Experts: Russian warships on their way to Baltic Sea

Movements of warships in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea, as well as internet comments show that two Russian nuclear-equipped corvettes are currently on their way to the Baltic Sea, even though official reports suggest the opposite, as concluded by experts of Atlantic Council think tank.

Kalibr-class missiles can be fitted with nuclear warheads. Their effective radius is 2,600 km, which makes them more effective than Iskander-class missiles, according to information from arms-expo.ru.

Zelyony Dol and Serpukhov, which are classified as Bujan-M artillery ships and some of the most modern warships in Russia’s fleet, have departed for the Baltic Sea.

Last year, both those ships were added to Russian Black Sea fleet based in Sevastopol. In August, those ships were stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, where they fired missiles at targets in Syria. After taking part in a military operation in the Mediterranean Sea, both ships returned to Sevastopol.

At the beginning of October, a spokesperson for the Black Sea fleet announced plans to send those ships to the Mediterranean Sea. On 5 October, photos surfaced showing the ships crossing the Bosphorus.

It was expected that they would follow down south to the Syrian coast, where they would assist in the military operation against ISIS.

However, 7fbtk.blogspot.com reports that both ships were planned to be diverted to the Baltic Sea. The website references a report made by the Ukrainian Defence Ministry dated 16 September. The report claims that the ships would depart for the north through Russia’s internal waters. But this never happened. Nevertheless, 7fbtk.blogspot.com references multiple sources, suggesting that this plan may not have been abandoned yet.

The website reported that the ships were expected to arrive in Malta in the middle of October. If reports are to be believed, those ships may be sent to the Baltic Sea. 7fbtk.blogspot.com adds that the Baltic Sea Fleet would get a major advantage thanks to Kalibr-class missiles.

Although ships and submarines capable of carrying Kalibr-class missiles were tested in the Baltic Sea before their supply to the Black Sea Fleet, there are no ships or submarines in the Baltic Sea Fleet armed with those missiles at the moment.

It has been confirmed that both aforementioned ships were noticed in Malta in the middle of October.

Commenting on the ships’ presence in Malta, Russian website dedicated to military vehicles sdelanounas.ru reported that the ships left Sevastopol on 4 October and that they would be relocated to the Baltic Sea.

On 15 October, Spanish media reported sightings of both ships close to Ceuta port. This is confirmed by information reported on social media. It seems the two ships stayed there for only one day to refuel and restock on drinking water.

A couple of days later, BBC reported two ships coming close to British territory from Portugal’s general direction. Names of the ships were not mentioned, but BBC reported that the only two Russian corvettes in the region at the time were Zelyony Dol and Serpukhov.

On 21 October, Interfax reported that Zelyony Dol and Serpukhov were headed in Britain’s direction to join Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier headed for Syria through the English Channel. It was assumed they would continue with Admiral Kuznetsov to Syria.

On 23 October, however, Dutch Navy Commander Rob Verkerk posted photos of Russian corvettes on his Twitter profile. He noted that both ships had crossed Netherlands’ exclusive economic zone.

It seems likely that Zelyony Dol and Serpukhov corvettes are headed for the Baltic Sea, according to experts of Atlantic Council.

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