The Russian Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov of the Northern Fleet is currently leading the task force in the Mediterranean Sea. The news, released by TASS, does not come as a surprise as currently Admiral Gorshkov is the only Russian frigate present in the Mediterranean.
An official told TASS that the ship will remain in the Mediterranean “for about two months, occasionally calling at Tartus, Syria”, where a Russian naval facility is located. This means that during the summer, the ship will leave the Mediterranean and return to Murmansk, where it departed from last January.
It is therefore very likely that new Russian naval units will arrive in the Mediterranean in the coming weeks because the departure of Admiral Gorshkov would leave Moscow’s forces in the area greatly reduced after five Russian ships left the theater in recent weeks:
- Intelligence ship “Yuri Ivanov”
- Frigate Admiral Grigorovich (545)
- Corvette Stoikiy (545)
- Corvette Soobrazitelny (531)
- Tanker Kola
Currently Russian forces in the Mediterranean can only rely on:
- Frigate Admiral Gorshkov, armed with hypersonic missiles
- Corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo
- Minesweeper Vladimir Emelyanov
- Krasnodar Kilo-class submarine
- Kama tanker
The departure of Admiral Gorshkov, if not replaced, would leave the presence in the Mediterranean at a level little more than symbolic.