Russia has deployed at least one frigate and one cruiser in the Red Sea

In February, India held the 12th edition of the Milan 2024 naval exercise, with the aim of “enhancing operational interaction between friendly navies and gaining experience in multinational operations.” Along with Indian Navy units [dont ses deux porte-avions, à savoir l’INS Vikrant et l’INS Vikramaditya]About twenty ships and several aircraft And so it came together To Visakhapatnam port.

France participated with an Atlantic 2 maritime patrol plane, as did the United States. [avec le « destroyer » USS Halsey]Australia [avec la frégate HMS Warramunga]…and Russia, which mobilized for this occasion the cruiser “Varyag” and the frigate “Marshal Shaposhnikov.” [dotée, a priori, de missiles de croisière Kalibr] And the tanker Boris Butoma.

As the Milan 2024 exercises ended on February 27, the three Russian ships assigned to the Pacific Fleet remained in the region. On March 4, the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov stopped in Qatar during the DIMDEX arms exhibition. They then participated in an exercise organized with China and Iran in the Indian Ocean, which focused on “the security of maritime economic activities” and “the liberation of ships hijacked by pirates.”

While the Houthis [liés à l’Iran] They stressed that their attacks on commercial maritime traffic near the Bab al-Mandab Strait would save ships linked to Russian interests [et chinois]The ships “Varyag” and “Marshal Shaposhnikov” are currently sailing in the Red Sea. This is, in fact, what the Russian Pacific Fleet announced on March 28.

The presence of these two Russian ships in this region is likely to raise some questions, with regard to the two naval operations, “Guardian of Prosperity” and “Aspids,” which were launched respectively by the United States and the European Union. [UE] This is to protect commercial traffic from attacks launched by the Houthi rebels from Yemen. Moreover, these attacks are beneficial to Russia, as a 40% increase in freight transport by rail between Asia and Europe has been observed.

In any case, the reason for the deployment of the frigate “Marshal Shaposhnikov” in the Red Sea is known: this ship has already arrived at the port of Massawa in Eritrea “as part of a long-distance sea voyage,” the Russian Ministry of Defense specified on March 29. According to his Eritrean counterpart, this stop, which is scheduled to last five days, aims to celebrate thirty years of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Asmara. As for Varyag, his whereabouts are unknown at the present time.

It is possible that this mission will be similar to that carried out by the frigate Admiral Tributes, the Boris Potoma, and indeed the Varyag between December 2021 and November 2022. After a stop in Cochin [Inde]This formation was heading towards the Mediterranean Sea. In July, the cruiser and frigate joined the intelligence ship Vasiliy Tatishchev in the Adriatic Sea, where no Russian ship has been seen since 1995, and the NATO-led Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia.