A cluster of at least 5 Russian warships equipped with Caliber missiles has formed in the North Sea, reports naval analyst H. I. Sutton on his website, citing information from open sources (OSINT).

The warships are accompanied by two support ships, with Sutton noting that “if the invasion of Ukraine has taught us anything, it’s that support ships deserve at least as much attention as large ships.”

Unusually, the naval group includes a Black Sea Fleet frigate that was unable to return to its naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea, after Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait to warships following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

7 Russian ships identified in the North Sea:

• frigate “Admiral Hryhorovych”, Black Sea Fleet;

• “Sbrazitelny”, a corvette of the “Steregushchy” type of the Baltic Fleet;

• “Stoykiy”, corvette of the “Steregushchy” type of the Baltic Fleet;

• “Sovietsk”, Karakurt-type corvette, Baltic Fleet;

• “Odyntsovo”, Karakurt-type corvette, Baltic Fleet;

• “Yakiv Grebelskyi”, tugboat of the “Horyn” type, Baltic Fleet;

• “Kama”, tanker of the “Kaliningrad” type, Northern Fleet.

All the first 5 warships are equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles, which can attack both sea and land targets.

G. I. Sutton notes that, although there may be several explanations for such a sudden concentration of forces, the most likely of them is unannounced naval exercises, which will certainly attract the attention of NATO.

Concerns about the activities of the Russian Navy in the North Sea

The concentration of forces by Moscow comes after NATO Assistant Secretary General for Military Intelligence David Cuttler warned on Wednesday that Russia could sabotage submarine cables to punish Western countries for supporting Ukraine.

“There is a growing concern that Russia may target submarine cables and other critical infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt life in the West in order to gain leverage over those countries that keep Ukraine safe,” David Cuttler told reporters.

“The Russians are more active in the area than we’ve seen in recent years,” he said, adding that they are patrolling the Atlantic more than in recent years and have stepped up their activity in the North and Baltic seas.

Also on Wednesday, Scandinavian broadcasters aired a new episode of a joint investigation by the Russian fleet in the North and Baltic seas, revealing that several Moscow “ghost ships” were near the site of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions last September. performed unusual maneuvers here just a few days before the sabotage.

This new report comes after the Danish military confirmed last week that it had taken 26 photos of another Russian submarine, the SS-750, near the site of the explosions on September 22, for Nord Stream 4 days later.

Since February, the Netherlands has directly accused Russia of trying to gather information to sabotage critical infrastructure on the Dutch side of the North Sea.

Moscow has dismissed all those reports, instead calling again this week to “accelerate” the investigation into the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines that run through the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

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