All Russian Black Sea Fleet assault ships return to the Black Sea by September 7 - details

As of September 7, 2014, all seven big assault ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and one big assault ship of the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet were located in the Black Sea.

Yamal (156), the Russian Black Sea Fleet vessel, passed the Bosporus Strait on September 5, 2014 while heading to the Black Sea, thus completing yet another shipment of military equipment for the Assad regime in Syria.

This information comes from Cem Devrim Yaylalı, BSNews correspondent in Istanbul and editor of the turkishnavy.net website.

Russian assault ship Yamal (156) in Bosporus on September 5, 2014. Photo by Cem Devrim Yaylalı

Three assault ships are on the final stages of repair at the moment: Orsk and Nikolay Fil’chenkov warships at Dockyard 13 in Sevastopol, and Caesar Kunikov – at the Flotskiy arsenal in Varna.

Thus, the following assault ships are in commission in the Black Sea now: 1) Azov, 2) Saratov, 3) Novocherkassk, 4) Yamal of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and 5) Kaliningrad of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Find more information in out publication Russian assault vessels, accumulated in the Black Sea.

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Yamal (156) was renamed from LLC-67 in 2002. It is in the 197th assault ship division of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. 

Yamal (156), the Russian Sea Fleet assault ship in Bosporus on May 15, 2014. Photo by Yörük Işık

LLC-67 by 775/II project (Ropucha ІІ, according to NATO classification) was built at Stocznia Polnocna dockyard in Gdansk, Poland in 1988 (serial number 775/25). It joined the Black Sea Fleet on April 30, 1988.

Displacement: 4080 t. Size: length - 112,5 m, beam - 15 m, draft - 3,7 m. Speed, max.: 18 knots. Range: 6000 nm at 12 knots.Propulsion: 2 diesel engines, 2 propellers, 19200 hp. Capacity: up to 500 tons of cargo and 225 troops, tank bulge: length - 95 m,beam - 4,5 m, height - 4,5 m. Armament: 2х2 57-mm АК-725 guns (Ropucha I), 2 rocket launchers А-215 Grad-M. Crew: 87 people