Access to ports and infrastructure abroad has for decades been a major objective for Moscow, whose projection capacity is hampered by the control of several strategic straits by NATO members.
But Russia’s military adventures in Ukraine and Syria, beyond their appalling human toll, today have catastrophic consequences for the Russian navy, forced to abandon bases long in the hands of Moscow.
Two cataclysms for the Moscow navy
The Russian navy has suffered serious setbacks since the start of the large-scale conflict in Ukraine, calling into question its capabilities for action in the Black Sea. Ukrainian missiles and drones caused heavy damage to Moscow’s fleet in the first months of the conflict, prompting the Kremlin to move its fleet from Sevastopol to the port of Novorossiysk and abandon any attempt to blockade its ports. opponent. This abandonment of Sevastopol is a major defeat for Russia, while the access of the Russian military navy to the Crimean port was one of the challenges of the annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
Another unexpected and dazzling defeat disrupted the plans of the Russian navy: the fall of Bashar Al-Assad, defeated in a few weeks by a rebel offensive, suddenly placed Moscow in a delicate situation.
If the new Syrian regime of Al-Joulani did not take advantage of its victory to expel Russian forces from the country, Russia found itself confronted with a hitherto unimaginable prospect: the loss of its Syrian bases, including the port of Tartous, calling into question the Kremlin’s ability to project its forces in the Middle East and Africa.
The end of an era for the Russian fleet
According to Business Insider, the withdrawal from the Tartus base of the Novorossiysk, a Russian Kilo-class submarine, marks a pivotal step for Moscow’s navy: for the first time in years, the Kremlin no longer operates submarines. -attack sailors in the Mediterranean.
As Bryan Clark, a military analyst at the Hudson Institute, points out to Business Insider, Kilo-class ships, like the Novorossiysk, constitute the most advanced model of non-nuclear powered submarine.
The withdrawal of the Novorossiysk therefore marks a notable decline in the Kremlin’s influence in the Mediterranean, even if Moscow still maintains vessels in this sea: according to satellite images published by Maxar Technologies on January 6, at least three ships from its fleet are still near the Syrian coast.
Weapons used in the war in Ukraine
