Russia emptied warships from Black Sea base and put them back: pictures

• Satellite images of a Russian naval base in September revealed strange movements at the facility.
• On several occasions, Russia has partially or completely dispersed its naval vessels at Novorossiysk.
• The strange behavior follows devastating Ukrainian attacks on the Black Sea fleet.

Satellite images of a key Russian naval base along the Black Sea have revealed strange behavior, notably dozens of military vessels dispersing from the facility, only to return moments later.

The footage, collected by BlackSky in September and obtained by Business Insider, shows Russia partially or completely dispersing its naval vessels from the port of Novorossiysk for short periods of time on three separate occasions that month.

The surprising behavior has yet to be attributed to anything in particular, but it comes on the back of a Ukrainian long-range strike campaign against the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The Black Sea Fleet was long based in Sevastopolin the southwestern corner of the occupied Crimean peninsula. But a series of high-profile Ukrainian missile and naval drone attacks on the port forced Russia to withdraw its warships to bases in Feodosia, on the other side of Crimea, and Novorossiysk, in western Russia.

The attacks did not stop either Ukraine targeted Novorossiysk with drones several times this year.

More than 50 ships — a mix of surface warships, submarines, supply ships and tugs — are usually stationed at Novorossiysk, according to BlackSky imagery and analysis. The company provides real-time space-based information and has collected hundreds of port images since June 2023.

But in September, BlackSky first detected unusual behavior: military ships briefly left Novorossiysk before returning. He observed three separate cases revealing partial and complete dispersal of ships from the harbor.

Images from September 2 show the Black Sea fleet actively leaving the port of Novorossiysk, with over two dozen ships seen leaving port for port.

According to BlackSky imagery and analysis, similar activity was detected the following week on September 11, with only seven ships remaining in port.

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And then a few days later, on September 14, there were no naval ships at Novorossiysk for the first time. Some, however, were seen hiding in the nearby commercial port.

An intelligence analyst familiar with the images and data, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described Russia’s behavior as “a new tactic,” though it is unclear to what end.

“The most fascinating thing is that when the ships went out, no attack followed,” the analyst told BI, adding that no such activity had been seen in Novorossiysk before.

“It’s a brand new phenomenon of naval vessels evacuating the harbor completely. They just have nowhere to go.”

The analyst said the ships don’t go very far when they disperse, noting that they “mostly sit and linger outside the harbor where they congregate and are still susceptible to attack.”

It is not clear why Russia moved its ships in this way, as the movement of the ships does not appear to line up with any publicly disclosed attack on Novorossiysk.

There were some naval drone activity reported locally near the harbor in early September; however, Ukraine did not announce its involvement, as it normally does after an attack on the Black Sea Fleet.

Russia held large-scale naval exercises between September 10 and 16, but there was no involvement of ships in the Black Sea. Western Intelligence said this is “highly likely” because of the Ukrainian attacks in the first half of the year.

Some analysts have speculated that dispersal may have been Russia’s reaction to reports at the time which said the US and Britain were moving closer to dropping restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles. Kiev has long forbidden from using these powerful weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.

While these restrictions are still in place, Ukraine has demonstrated throughout the war that it has a long reach with its own domestic products. cruise missiles, long-range attack drones and naval drones.

Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence analyst and associate at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, told BI that Ukraine has steadily developed long-range strike capabilities that can threaten an increasing number of military assets Russian

“When it comes to Sevastopol and Novorossiysk, we’ve seen that Ukraine has been able to target Russian ships in these ports several times,” said Africk, who works with satellite imagery to track Black Sea activity.

“This has led Russia not only to add layers of defense to the port entrances, but also to further disperse its assets in these places,” he added.

Satellite images captured extensive Russian efforts to protect its ports from Ukrainian attacks. For example, at Novorossiysk, Moscow has placed barges and floating boom defenses to add more protection.

Russia has increased its air combat patrols in other areas of the Black Sea and put more weapons on its warships, a general from the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, BI previously saidbut the attacks continue to pass.

Africk said that as opposed to significant The spread of Russia from Sevastopolwhich was a significant reaction to Ukraine’s increased ability to strike the Black Sea fleet at longer ranges, the situation at Novorossiysk was more fragmented.

In other words, naval assets have been moved on less consistent bases and under certain conditions, such as when Moscow is concerned about a potential attack.

Ukraine’s Black Sea campaign was a defining success in war. A senior US defense official said last month that Kiev had sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 32 medium and large Russian naval vessels and in the process had driven Moscow’s naval forces away from Crimea.

Africk said that “Ukraine has created a situation where Russian naval assets have fewer and fewer places to hide, especially the closer they are to Kiev-controlled territory.”