The UK Ministry of Defence has released a new intelligence update on the recent large-scale Russian naval exercise, OKEAN-24, which took place between 10 and 16 September 2024.
The exercise, carried out by the Russian Federation Navy (RFN), was the first of its kind in two years, following a break likely caused by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 13 October 2024.
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According to the intelligence update, “Up until 2022, Russia would conduct an annual exercise involving all its armed forces – the Joint Strategic Exercise (JSE) – but the last two have been cancelled almost certainly as a consequence of the demands of the war in Ukraine.”
OKEAN-24 was described as a large-scale strategic exercise, which Russia likely intended to use to demonstrate its military reach and capability, despite the pressures of the ongoing conflict. Early reports from Russian media claimed the exercise would involve over 400 vessels, 120 aircraft, 7,000 vehicles, and 90,000 personnel.
The units were said to be conducting operations across the Barents, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Caspian Seas, as well as the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. However, the intelligence update cast doubt on these figures, stating that “Russia has almost certainly grossly exaggerated these figures as there are currently only around 300 vessels available to take part.”
One notable absence during the exercise was activity in the Black Sea, a region that has seen significant conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The intelligence update highlighted this omission, explaining, “No OKEAN-2024 activity took place in the Black Sea, highly likely because of Ukrainian attacks in the first six months of 2024.”
This reflects the continued impact of the war on Russia’s military operations, as Ukrainian forces have succeeded in limiting Russian capabilities in the region.
What! The media exaggerated? Surely not.
Wasn’t it the Russian Govt that exaggerated, not that in that Country or China indeed there is much difference between Govt and media.
The report attributes “initial Russian media reports”. The independence of the Russian media is of course debateable and whether the government would have to have given it a tacit nod at the very least may well be true, but the word initial makes me question how state-sanctioned the claim was.
Counting only combat vessels they have:
1 Aircraft carrier
2 Battlecruisers
2 Cruisers
10 Destroyers
12 Frigates
===
27
82 Corvettes
3 Patrol ships
120 Patrol boats
===
205
12 Ballistic missile submarines
11 Cruise missile submarines
13 Nuclear attack submarines
21 Diesel attack submarines
===
57
Some are in refit some are being decommissioned, even counting support vessels I doubt they could get 300 to take part in one exercise.
The main place I find MOD intelligence updates is X (and news reports that reference reports on X). However, I hate X. The inability to easily sort and page back makes it a terrible place for reports of record. Does anyone have a link to a direct store of Defence Intelligence Ukraine update reports?