spectre crouton

...Fotiy Krylov and Pechenga returned to Vladivostok during morning hours on 8 December

- Pechenga completed 42-day deployment to support Kareliya during its operations near Hawaiian Islands

- Fotiy Krylov completed 17-day mission to assist Pechenga on its return transit

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Archive image, February 2025

What I thought was a "probable Sviyazhsk-class missile patrol ship" turns out to be recently commissioned (August 2025) Bykov-class missile patrol boat Viktor Velikiy [archive image for comparison]

- ship is escorting M/V General Skobelev through Great Belt/Kattegat today

[2/2] Preliminary analysis suggests Fotiy Krylov may be escorting/assisting Dubna-class oiler Pechenga and/or Vishnya-class intelligence collection Kareliya (SSV-535) during a return transit from the Hawaiian Islands to Vladivostok

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[1/2] Based on AIS reporting, RF Navy Pacific Fleet Baklazhan-class salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov departed Vladivostok on 22 November with a stated destination of the Philippine Sea; tug is currently heading north in the East China Sea

www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/detai...

Star Far East Shipyard has been ordered to pay Center for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Technologies RUB 63,736,948 in non-payment + fines for a 2020 contract to repair/upgrade torpedo tubes on Oscar II-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Irkutsk

...Vitse-Admiral Kulakov still underway somewhere in the Baltic Sea...

Future RF Navy Pacific Fleet Balk-class oceangoing tug Kapitan Sergeyev [IMO 9871919] is conducting builder's sea trials near Vladivostok

[Oct 2023-Jan 2024] tug transfers Novorossiysk to Vladivostok

[Mar-May 2024] tug undergoes repairs at Nakhodka Shipyard

[Jun 2024-Oct 2025] tug remains idle?

...Aleksandr Frolov likely has concluded escorting unidentified Kilo-class submarine to Skagerrak area and has begun heading south for return to Baltiysk

- submarine escort duty likely handed over to Ingul-class salvage/rescue tug Altay

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At least four Sierra Leone-flagged hopper/dredgers have been operating in Bukhta Krasheninnikova (adjacent to Rybachiy Submarine Base) for the past several weeks.

Are there no RF-flagged hoppers or dredgers in RF Far East?

...Yaroslavl Shipyard went from a RUB 272,106,000 profit in 2023 to a RUB 141,198,000 loss in 2024; based on its own internal audit, the shipyard lost another RUB 199,781,000 during the first three quarters of 2025

Archive image, December 2022

RF Navy Northern Fleet Ingul-class salvage/rescue tug Altay departed Severomorsk on 24 November; remains underway through today

- may be heading south in Norwegian Sea to rendezvous with RF Navy Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine, currently heading north in Kattegat

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salvage/rescue tug

...Aleksandr Frolov, escorting unidentified RF Navy Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine, conducted northbound transit of the Great Belt during the 09:00 local hour today (30 November)

h/t @pa.nton.cx

German submarine (MMSI 211999999) and Russian Kilo-class submarine (escorted by MMSI 273542930) conducted northbound transits of the Great Belt this morning (04:00 and 09:00 local hours, respectively)

- both currently heading north in the Kattegat

...looks like Danish Navy patrol ship P523 is preparing to handover escort of Aleksandr Frolov to Danish Navy patrol ship P520 in Fehmarnbelt

...if Aleksandr Frolov continues at its current 6-knot speed of advance, it (and whatever it is towing/escorting) should reach the Great Belt Bridge at approximately 09:00 UTC/10:00 local time tomorrow (29 November)

Upcoming missile firing activity in the Barents and White Seas:

- red closures in effect 3-6 December (03:00-17:00 daily)

- yellow closure in effect 3-10 Dec (06:00-15:00 daily)

...Ilya Muromets entered port (returned to Murmansk?) by midday today after 35-day underway period

RF Navy Baltic Fleet salvage/rescue tug Aleksandr Frolov (MMSI 273542930) departed Baltiysk today with a stated destination of Skagerrak, which may (or may not) indicate the tug is heading north to the Kattegat/Skagerrak area in the coming days

You're correct, manipulators were not reinstalled following repairs. After water-tight integrity testing is completed, additional tests (with manipulators installed) will be performed.

Here's an old image showing installed manipulators.

...Vitse-Admiral Paromov changed its destination from 'open sea' to 'Murmansk', with an ETA of today

Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center has until 27 April 2026 to raise and remove floating crane PK-400 Sevastopol from Yuzhnaya Bukhta (Sevastopol), where it capsized in October 2025

RF Navy Northern Fleet Muromets-class icebreaker Ilya Muromets (IMO 9820233 | MMSI 273542050) departed port on 24 October and remains underway through today

- not transmitting AIS

Not good news for Yaroslavl Shipyard...

- shipyard lost 39 of 100 cases filed against it in 2025 (so far) + ordered to pay RUB 490,754,471 in damages/fines;

- many cases are under appeal/could be appealed;

- 49 other cases (RUB 552,765,329) still to be heard; many won't begin until 2026

...after a very brief stopover (less than 24 hours), Vitse-Admiral Kulakov got underway again during the early evening hours on 23 November

...Vitse-Admiral Paromov changed its destination from 'Larnaca, Cyprus' to 'open sea'

RF Navy Northern Fleet Udaloy I-class destroyer Admiral Levchenko departed port during evening hours on 20 November and remains underway through today

...Vitse-Admiral Paromov has resumed a northeasterly transit in the Norwegian Sea