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On March 21, 2024, there was a conspicuous passage of three eastbound Russian ships in the Fehmarnbelt. The frigate Neustrashimiy escorted two freighters, the Sparta IV and the Ursa Major. A movement that is gaining importance due to the sanctions and the current geopolitical situation.

Both merchant ships could be described as modern blockade runners. “Sparta IV” previously commuted on the route between Tartus, Syria and Russian ports in the Black Sea. Under its previous name “Sparta III”, the “Ursa Major”, built in Wolgast in 2009, is on the US sanctions list.

Both freighters were loaded in Tartus in February, although given the destination port of Novorossiysk and their previous operational pattern, it is reasonable to assume that they were military supplies. According to its AIS data, the “Sparta IV” was off Istanbul on February 25th. Early in the morning of February 26th she turned around and headed back towards Tartus. West of Cyprus she made her way to the Baltic Sea together with two other Russian ships. With her were the RoRo cargo ship “Ursa Major”, which belongs to the same shipping company, and the tanker “Yaz”. AIS signals from both merchant ships show the passage of Crete to the west on March 5, 2024. According to Open Source Intelligence, they were accompanied in the Mediterranean by the frigate “Grigorovich”.

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AIS data from the attempted Bosphorus passage of the “Sparta IV” from the end of February 2024 – screenshot by Michael Nitz. Note: The image of the “Sparta IV” shown is an archive image and does not reflect the current loading status.

On March 20, 2024, the three ships met off Skagen with the frigate “Neustrashimiy”, which had arrived from Baltiysk the day before. In the evening the movement through Kattegat towards the south began. “Sparta IV” reached its destination port of Baltiysk on the evening of March 22nd. “Ursa Major” was off St. Petersburg around midnight on March 23rd. “Yaz” too.

During the passage through the Danish and German area of ​​interest, the association was accompanied by the Danish patrol boat P523 and a boat from the Danish Home Guard, before being accompanied by the Federal Maritime Police/Coast Guard with the operational ships “Neustadt” and “Bamberg” and by the mine diving operational boat “Rottweil”. 3rd Minesweeper Squadron of the German Navy was taken over. East of Bornholm, a Swedish Navy corvette escorted the three Russian units.

Moscow's Trojan Seahorses

Considering that the Russian Navy sent the frigate “Neustrashimiy”, one of its most potent combat ships in the Baltic Sea, to protect two cargo ships to Skagen, this confirms the suspicion that there are high-quality goods on board the heavily loaded “Sparta IV” and “Urs Major”. and weapon systems worth protecting are transported.blank

Die RFS Neustrashimiy am 21. März 2024 (Foto: Michael Nitz – Naval Press Service)Was die Historie der beiden Schiffe belegt. Laut dem britischen Forschungsinstitut Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (besser bekannt als RUSI) können im Jahr 2023 mindestens sechs Reisen der „Sparta IV“ zwischen Tartus und Novorossiysk dokumentiert werden, die der Nachführung militärischen Materials in den Schwarzmeerhafen dienten. Wie aus der Korrelation anderer Beobachtungen der Open Source Intelligence hervorgeht.

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The “Ursa Major” in turn made headlines in December 2023. She left St. Petersburg on November 14th with a delivery of materials for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. However, the government in Dhaka refused to allow entry because the ship was on the US sanctions list under its old name “Sparta III” and it did not want to be exposed to Washington's reprisals.

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