OSINT analyst MT_Anderson posted a satellite image of russian naval base in Kaspiysk which is the main basing point of russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla. The image shows that as of May 2, 2024, at least one Karakurt class Tucha missile corvette of Project 22800, which is carrier of Kalibr cruise missiles, was moved to this base from the Black Sea.
This image also shows the vessels that are part of the Caspian Flotilla on a regular basis. There are three Buyan class corvettes of Project 21630, two Buyan-M class missile corvettes of Project 21631 which are carriers of Kalibr cruise missiles, two Gepard-class frigates of Project 11661 as well as Stupinets missile boat, which is currently the only carrier of P-15 Termite anti-ship missile in russian Navy.
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It should be noted that on April 23, 2024, the spokesman of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Captain 3rd rank Dmytro Pletenchuk stated that russians were transferring Tucha and Amur missile corvettes of Project 22800 from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.
The Amur missile ship did not shown on the satellite image above. But it is quite possible that this russian vessel could have been stationed in another part of the Caspian harbor, which this satellite image did not show. Moreover, the entire staff of the Caspian Flotilla of the russian Navy was not captured in this image.
The peculiarity of the russian Tucha and Amur missile ships is that they have not yet been formally incorporated into russian Black Sea Fleet (as well as the russian Navy as a whole). Commissioning is currently scheduled for December 2024.
It is likely that russian Navy command in this story decided to avoid a mishap where these ships could be damaged by a strike by the Defense Forces of Ukraine even before they were commissioned, as it happened with the Askold corvette on November 4, 2023, which was essentially destroyed at the stage of completion at the Zaliv Shipbuilding Yard in temporarily occupied Kerch.
Let us recall the basic characteristics of Karakurt class missile corvettes of Project 22800:
- full displacement- 870 tons;
- hull length and width - 67 and 11 meters;
- speed and range - 30 knots full and 2500 miles;
- crew and autonomy - 39 people and 15 days;
- armament set - one 76-mm artillery launcher, eight launchers for Kalibr or P-800 Oniks missiles, Pantsir-ME air-defence missile and artillery system.
Earlier Defense Express reported that russians had built special ship for Ka-52 helicopters to cruise in the Sea of Azov.
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