Ukrainian Missiles Strike Russian Landing Ship Novocherkassk in Crimean Port

Today, the Ukrainian Air Force said that it had destroyed the Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, in the Crimean port of Feodosia overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry told the Tass state news agency that the ship had been damaged in an … Continue reading

Dueling Sea Drone Videos in Russian/Ukrainian PR Battle

Recent videos of a sea drone attack on a Russian warship released by Russia’s Defence Ministry and by Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne tell two very different stories of the encounter. The Russian video shows a Ukrainian sea drone, a small … Continue reading

Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipelines — Ukraine, US or Russia?

On September 26, 2022, a series of clandestine bombings resulted in underwater gas leaks from the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines. Both pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, and are … Continue reading

Ukraine Crowdfunding Fleet of Naval Drones to Counter Russian Black Sea Fleet

At the end of October, Russia announced that Ukraine had launched the “most massive attack by drones and remotely piloted surface vehicles on the waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in the history of the conflict.” Unconfirmed sources claim that … Continue reading

Russia Suspends Grain Export Deal Following Ukrainian Drone Attack on Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol

The BBC reports that Russia says that Ukraine carried out a “massive” drone attack on Saturday on the Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, damaging one warship. Nine drones were used, a top official said. Unconfirmed … Continue reading

Update: “Fat Leonard” Detained in Venezuela, Trying to Flee to Russia

In early September, just weeks before his sentencing in a decade-long Navy bribery and corruption scandal, Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” escaped from house arrest in his San Diego home and fled the country. The Malaysian businessman is … Continue reading

Superyacht Axioma Auctioned in Gibraltar — First Sale of an Oligarch’s Yacht Since Ukraine Invasion

Axioma, a $75-million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian steel billionaire, was auctioned on Tuesday in Gibraltar, court sources said, in what is understood to be the first sale of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The 72.5-meter … Continue reading

Hope for the Global Food Crisis as First Bulker Loaded With Grain Sails From Odesa

The handysize bulk carrier Razoni was one of roughly 80 international vessels that have been stranded in Ukraine for more than six months by the ongoing Russian invasion. Now, the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel has sailed from the port of Odesa … Continue reading

Russian Naval Blockade of Ukraine Called Attack on Global Food Supply

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds to a bloody stalemate, the Russian navy is effectively blockading the northern Black Sea, cutting off maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, in what world leaders call a deliberate attack on the global food … Continue reading

Russia Using Trained Dolphins to Patrol Protect Black Sea Naval Base

Satellite photographs show Russia has deployed trained dolphins at the entrance to the key Black Sea port of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet. The dolphins are likely to be trained to intercept Ukrainian divers attempting to sabotage … Continue reading

Putin’s Yacht Graceful Makes Hasty Departure from Germany

German media reports that the 83-meter yacht, Graceful, believed to be owned by Vladimir Putin, has made a hasty departure from Hamburg, Germany, bound for Russia, before finishing repairs and renovations at the Blohm and Voss shipyard. Some speculate that … Continue reading

Irish Fishermen Threaten To Disrupt Russian Naval Exercises, Russia Backs Down

Russia planned on holding naval exercises off the coast of Ireland. Fishermen from County Cork on Ireland’s southern coast saw the exercises as a threat to their livelihood and threatened to continue fishing as usual, despite the threatened use of … Continue reading

Early Freeze in Arctic Northern Sea Route Traps Ships, Icebreakers Dispatched

The Barents Observer reports that more than 20 ships are either stuck or struggling to make it through increasingly thick sea-ice on the Arctic Northern Sea Route. They report that over the past several years, shipping along the Russian northern … Continue reading

Brinkmanship in the Black Sea: Russian Ships & Jets Shadow British Warship

Yesterday, more than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed the Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Defender, sailing near Crimea. Moscow’s defence ministry said a patrol ship fired warning shots and a jet dropped bombs in the path of HMS … Continue reading

Swedish Navy Returns to Once-Secret Muskö Underground Naval Base

The Swedish Navy’s headquarters is returning to a vast underground naval base beneath Muskö in the Stockholm Archipelago in response to a perceived threat of a Russian attack. The vast underground cold war fortress can shelter warships and submarines and … Continue reading

Update: Akademik Lomonosov — Russia’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant Sets Sail

In May of last year, we posted about the Russians’ first floating nuclear power plant, “Akademik Lomonosov — Floating Chernobyl or Nuclear Titanic?.” At the time, the barge-mounted power plant was essentially completed but needed to be loaded with fuel. … Continue reading

Conflict in the Kerch Strait — Russia Blocks Strait and Seizes Ukrainian Navy Vessels

On Sunday, two Ukrainian naval gunboats and a tug departed from the Black Sea port of Odessa, bound to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov. As they approached the Kerch Strait, connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, they were intercepted by Russian … Continue reading

The Sinking Dry Dock and the Smoking Aircraft Carrier with a Bad Heart

This is an odd story, set in the icy Siberian waters near Murmansk, Russia.  Apparently, Russia’s largest floating drydock sank from underneath Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, doing some damage to the carrier above the waterline as the dock … Continue reading