After several months of slow but steady weakening of Russian forces in the Mediterranean Sea, with the abandonment of the area by almost all Russian Navy ships, we are today witnessing a first significant reinforcement.
The frigate Admiral Grigorovich (494, project 11356) has indeed passed through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Admiral Grigorovich is a guided-missile frigate of the Russian Navy. She is the lead ship of her class, which is also known as the Krivak V class. The ship is armed with a variety of weapons, including Kalibr cruise missiles, Shtil-1 surface-to-air missiles, and AK-630 close-in weapon systems.
The ship left the Mediterranean on April 24, 2023, to return home for maintenance (which it cannot do in the Black Sea since Turkey has closed the straits to military ships).
The Admiral Grigorovich is now headed to Tartus, Syria. Russian forces in the Mediterranean remain extremely modest, but the arrival of this unit could be an indication that something is perhaps changing. It is also a modest concern for NATO forces and the USS Ford carrier strike group operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
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