Covert Shores – A surface drone (USV) has been found off the coast of Romania, drifting close to the Neptun Alpha drilling platform. As the vessel began to drift away it was hit by cannon fire from a Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter. It was subsequently destroyed by EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) personnel. The black-painted craft appeared to be dead in the water, with seagulls gathering on its hull. It is reported to be of Russian origin. Similar in size to other USVs operated by both sides in the Black Sea, this appears to be a previously unreported type.

Covert Shores – A Russian LNG (liquified natural gas) tanker, Portovyy (IMO 9246621), has sailed out of the Baltic. Unusually, confusingly, her declared destination of Murmansk in Russia’s Arctic. It is unlikely that she is really going there. Although it is too early to declare it a fact, this may be an early indication that Russia is deploying a new tactic to avoid Ukrainian surface drone (USV) threats.

The Barents Observer – The special-purpose nuclear submarine Khabarovsk, designed to carry the Poseidon nuclear-powered giga-torpedo, is currently undergoing sea trials in the White Sea.

The War Zone – From recent satellite imagery, the Russian Navy now looks to be using nets to protect submarines from drone attacks at a highly strategic base on the country’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

CIMSEC – Originating in 1960s Soviet strategic military doctrine, reflexive control (RC) allows the user to employ and orchestrate manipulative tactics, including disinformation, deception, overload, provocation, and distraction, to compel adversaries to voluntarily adopt courses of action favorable to the user’s interests. Since the intensification of the Ukrainian-Russo War and NATO’s extended support to Ukraine, Russia has attempted to reconfigure the environment’s balance of power and assess the limit of the alliance’s collective deterrence.

Barents Observer – The Russian Navy has carried out a large-scale live-fire exercise simulating the defence of the Kola Peninsula against a seaborne attack, deploying submarines, surface warships, fighter jets and coastal missile systems.

Defence Blog – Sevmash shipyard rolled the Yasen-M class submarine Ulyanovsk out of its construction hall, completing the sixth vessel’s slipway construction phase. Five Yasen and Yasen-M submarines currently serve in Russia’s Navy, and Sevmash laid the keel for a ninth vessel, Murmansk, on June 17, 2026.

(Thanks to Alain)

CIMSEC – At present, Russia is exploiting European seaports and maritime infrastructure. Despite port interception and seizure operations from allied nations, Russia’s acquisition of ghost vessels continues in an upward trend. While primarily used as a strategic tool to augment sanctions evasion and sustain defense expenditures, Russia’s irregular tactics, alongside vulnerable seaport ecosystems, create conditions that could facilitate covert human movement under commercial cover for the Russian Federation.

Covert Shores – Russia’s annual Navy Day parades have given way to small-scale demonstrations of port defence technologies designed to counter Ukrainian threats. In Vyborg near St. Petersberg, the Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko viewed a selection of hopeful designs.

Covert Shores – In an awkward twist for those of us who has spent recent years explaining to the internet that Russia painting the bow and stern of warships black was not Dazzle Camouflage… now they have. The Russian Navy has begun painting some valuable warships in a World War Two dazzle-inspired camouflage.

Navy Lookout – The Russian Navy marked the first full day of Andy Burnham’s premiership by conducting a live-fire gunnery exercise in the English Channel while under close surveillance from the Royal Navy, in what appears to have been a calculated show of military presence close to the UK.

Barents Observer – Russia has quietly stripped much of the long-range air defence protecting its most important nuclear submarine shipyards.

Defence Blog – Russia has begun arming its large surface warships with new electronic warfare systems in an apparent attempt to counter Ukrainian drone attacks.

(Thanks to Alain)

Defence Blog – Russia laid the keel of nuclear submarine Murmansk, the ninth Project 885M Yasen-M boat, at Severodvinsk on June 17, 2026, the first in six years.

(Thanks to Alain)

Euromaiden Press – The Turkish-owned bulk carrier Victress, bound for a Ukrainian port, caught fire after the overnight strike on 22 June. Another commercial ship sustained minor damage.

Barents Observer – Russia’s war economy is under increasing strain, but construction of the Navy’s advanced nuclear-powered submarines continues unabated.

Asia Times – Amur-1650 reflects Russia’s buoyant sub export ambitions, but turning offers into real contracts and ships will be a rough ride

(Thanks to Alain)

7Sur7 – While the Kremlin’s ghost oil tankers avoid the English Channel for fear of being intercepted by the British, the French or the Belgians, an investigation shows the growing presence of armed men on board. These mercenaries, often linked to the Wagner Group, could well be there to intimidate the Western Coast Guard. It is difficult to say, however, if they would dare to open fire.

(In French) (Thanks to Alain)

Dossier Center – Russian ships continue to be built on equipment from Europe and the United States, despite sanctions and an official ban on supplies. In 2025, Vladimir Putin said that over the past five years Russia has built 49 warships of various classes. The Dossier Center and the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper found out how critical Western equipment, without which it is impossible to build a modern ship, still ends up in Russian shipyards. We talked to experts in the field of shipbuilding, employees of supply companies and studied financial documents that show that despite the rules and procedures, European and American manufacturers cannot control where their products are ultimately sent.

(In Russian) (Thanks to Alain)

Covert Shores – Free world nations in Western Europe should rapidly deploy a small but dispersed force of ship-killing uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to monitor Russian naval activity off Western Europe.

Barents Observer – Ukrainian drones have destroyed two Russian Navy long-range aircraft, including a specialised Tu-142MR strategic communications-relay aircraft that plays a key role in maintaining contact with Russia’s nuclear-armed submarines.

RUSI – Classified Russian government document revelations add to concerns that the adversarial nation’s undersea threat is both acute and invested towards a further-reaching campaign.

Naval News – Despite being thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine, Russia’s strategic submarine base at Rybachiy in the Pacific is now showing signs of heightened defenses. New satellite imagery reveals anti-drone protections around nuclear submarines, suggesting Russian commanders fear that Ukrainian surprise attacks threaten even their most remote naval assets.

USNI News – A 10-ship Russian convoy transited Japan’s Tsushima Strait to enter the East China Sea over the weekend, according to Japan’s Joint Staff Office.