As the Russian cargo convoy consisting of Sparta IV, Ursa Major and Yaz is entering the Baltic Sea, another flotilla is making the reverse journey from Kaliningrad to Tartus in Syria. This includes Two Russian Navy Northern Fleet amphibious vessels, BDK-031 “Otrakovsky” & BDK-010 “Ivan Gren,” and the Baltic Fleet tanker “Kola” (a familiar presence in the Mediterranean).
🔺OOA activity
— Droxford Maritime (@Drox_Maritime) March 20, 2024
Two Russian Navy Northern Fleet amphibious vessels, POSS Ropucha BDK-031 “Otrakovsky” & BDK-010 “Ivan Gren” & Baltic Fleet tanker “Kola” were likely transiting the Bay of Biscay, AM 20 March 2024. Vessels likely ENR the Mediterranean Sea.@key2med pic.twitter.com/tWnD6ompRx
Currently, the three ships are in the Bay of Biscay, heading towards Syria. It has been a while since we last saw the reactivation of the sea connection between the Black Sea ports of Russia and Tartus (also referred to as the “Syrian Express”).
Typically, the maritime connection passed through the Black Sea straits and then headed towards Syria. Similar to the three aforementioned cargo ships, this change in the program could also have been due to the threat of Ukrainian maritime drones in the Black Sea, which extends the connections between Syria and Russia by about 3 weeks.