Russia deploys new corvettes to Black Sea, replacing destroyed Askold in Kerch - media

Defense Express reported the information.

An infographic from OSINT analyst MT_Anderson has been made publicly available, showing satellite images of four Karakurt project missile corvettes, which are carriers of Kalibr cruise missiles. The image shows that as of December 2, the Tsiklon missile corvette, which had already been deployed to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was in the waters of temporarily occupied Sevastopol.

Another picture shows that the Askold corvette, which was actually destroyed in the November 4 missile attack, was already undergoing repairs at the Zalyv plant in temporarily occupied Kerch on December 3. The Russians covered the areas of the corvette's hull that had suffered the most damage.

On December 5, two missile corvettes of the Karakurt project were spotted in Novorossiysk: the Amur corvette, which has been completed and tested but not yet accepted into the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and the Tucha ship, which was probably moved to Novorossiysk by waterways. The Tucha corvette was built in the Russian city of Zelenodolsk, Tatarstan. There is an assumption that the Russians deployed the Tucha corvette to Novorossiysk via the Volga-Don Canal to replace the destroyed Askold corvette.

What is known about the Tucha corvette

The Tucha corvette was commissioned in 2019 and launched in Zelenodolsk in July 2023. Its characteristics do not differ from the previous ships of the 22800 Karakurt project:

• full water displacement - 870 tons
• hull length and width - 67 meters and 11 meters;
• autonomy of navigation - up to 15 days, crew - 39 people;
• armament - 76-mm gun, 8 launchers for Kalibr or Oniks missiles, Pantsyr in the naval version, Orlan-10 drone.

What is known about the destruction of the Askold

"The Askold was the latest ship of the Karakurt project with stealth technology and eight silos for launching Kalibr cruise missiles. One of its features was the presence of the Pantsyr-S1 naval type, the ship's air defense system.

On November 4, explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Crimea: the Armed Forces confirmed successful strikes on the Zalyv Shipbuilding Yard and damage to the Russian Askold missile carrier.

On the morning of November 5, the damage to one of the most modern ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Kalibr cruise missile carrier, during the attack on Kerch November 4 was confirmed by the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk. On November 6, the ministry confirmed the damage to the Russian missile carrier Askold and published a photo of the damaged ship. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry recognized the missile attack on the Zalyv Shipbuilding Yard in the temporarily occupied Crimea. "Radio Liberty showed satellite images showing the damage to the ship. The ship was heavily damaged and probably beyond repair. 

British intelligence assessed the consequences for Russia of the Ukrainian strike on the Askold ship in Kerch.