Russia has relocated the majority of its Black Sea Fleet ships and submarines from Sevastopol further east to Novorossiysk. Since the removal of the Black Sea Fleet commander in March 2024, the fleet has shown the least activity since the beginning of the war.

This information comes from the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain on Twitter.

According to the announcement, on April 1, the missile frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" conducted weapons handling exercises at the facility in the port of Novorossiysk.

According to British intelligence, modern Russian warships such as the frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" are equipped with vertical launch systems for firing cruise missiles at both maritime and ground targets. Historically, these missiles were reloaded in Sevastopol.

"As the Black Sea Fleet will almost certainly remain near Novorossiysk as the best way to avoid a Ukrainian attack from the sea, its infrastructure for technical maintenance, logistics, and handling of armaments in Novorossiysk is likely to have been enhanced to support the new basing conditions indefinitely," notes the British Ministry of Defense.

The frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" was launched in 2014. Its armament includes 3S14 launchers, which utilize Kalibr and Oniks missiles for strikes on Ukrainian cities.