Russia has sent two groups of naval vessels to the Indian Ocean on Monday, including three warships that were on a deployment and a submarine armed with cruise missiles.
The Russian Pacific Fleet said corvettes Gromky, Rezky, and Hero of Russia Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as support vessel Pechenga, docked at the port of Thilawa in Myanmar in preparation for a joint maritime security exercise in the northern Andaman Sea from Tuesday to Thursday.
Meanwhile, diesel-electric submarine Ufa, which was commissioned in November 2022 in St. Petersburg, arrived at Kochi on the southwestern coast of India with rescue tug Alatau. It is the fourth of six Project 636.3 submarines that were built for Russia's Pacific Fleet.
This class of submarine, also known as Improved Kilo-II, has a displacement of more than 3,900 tons. It is capable of diving to a depth of 984 feet and has a range of 7,500 miles. It can fire Kalibr cruise missiles, which have seen extensive use in strikes against Ukraine.
These two Russian naval deployments in the Indian Ocean, which links Asia and Europe via major waterways such as the Suez Canal to the west and the Strait of Malacca to the east, are the latest Russian military activities at sea in the contested Indo-Pacific region.
The Russian military in late September joined a China-led naval exercise in the northwest of the Pacific Ocean. Following the conclusion of the exercise, warships from the two countries commenced a joint patrol in the region, which covered more than 6,000 nautical miles.
The Defense Ministry of Japan reported that Russian destroyers Admiral Panteleyev and Admiral Tributs transited the Tsushima Strait northward, heading to the Sea of Japan from the East China Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were accompanied by a supply ship.
The Russian Pacific Fleet said on Monday that the destroyers left the port of Qingdao in China and began a voyage toward Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. They arrived at the Chinese port on October 17 after completing the patrol with the Chinese navy.
The Russian naval group led by corvettes was on a deployment in the Asia-Pacific region to accomplish missions, the Vladivostok-based Pacific Fleet reported on October 5. The Japanese navy spotted the group transiting the Tsushima Strait southward on the same day.
The group passed through two southwestern Japanese islands southward two days later. Before arriving in Myanmar for naval drills with local naval forces, it visited Malaysia's port of George Town on Penang Island in the Strait of Malacca from October 14 to 17.
⛴️On October 14, a detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, consisting of the corvettes “Gromky”, “Rezky”, “Aldar Tsydenzhapov” and the support vessel “Pechenga” made a business call to the Malaysian port of Georgetown. pic.twitter.com/29K8gbTJjQ
— Embassy of Russia in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (@RusEmb_Malaysia) October 16, 2024The Ufa was on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean from the Baltic Sea, which borders St. Petersburg to the east. It reached the Mediterranean Sea in December 2023 and remained in the region to provide submarine capabilities to Russian forces in Syria.
The Russian Pacific Fleet said the submarine in mid-March conducted combat missions in the Mediterranean Sea. Frederik Van Lokeren, a former Belgian navy officer and now a naval analyst, said on October 4 that the submarine left the region via the Suez Canal.
Unlike its sister ship the Magadan, which is the third Pacific Fleet Project 636.3 submarine, the Ufa used the Southern Sea Route during its transit to the Pacific Ocean.
The Magadan reached Vladivostok from St. Petersburg in October 2022 via the Northern Sea Route, a shortcut between Europe and Asia by passing through the Arctic Ocean.
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