On 21 February, the Russian media announced that a submarine hunting manoeuvre would take place in the eastern Mediterranean from 15 to 25 February 2022. One Slava-class cruiser (Marshal Ustinov, Varyag) and one Udaloy-class submarine frigate (Vitseadmiral Kulakov, Admiral Tributs) from the Northern and Pacific Fleet and the Gorshkov-class frigate Admiral Kasatonov (NF) have joined the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, which has transferred from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The two ships of the Pacific Fleet had already been in the Gulf region since the beginning of the year. The units of the Northern Fleet moved past Ireland into the Mediterranean at the beginning of February.
Powerful - powerless
This means that all three Russian cruisers, each equipped with 16 SS-N-12B Sandbox cruise missiles, are in the crisis region. The three largest ships of the Russian Federation - after the battlecruiser Piotr Velikiy in Severomorsk. What initially looks very powerful, however, only comes within range of the Ukraine (450 km) once the Bosporus has been passed and half the distance to Sevastopol has been covered due to the older FK (1,000 kg TNT, possible 350 kT nuclear). The Moskva, the third of the Slava class, is already there. Neither the Gorshkov nor the Udaloy class can be regarded as particularly capable of land targets - in other words, an exhibition run in the Mediterranean, a distraction and a tie-up of forces? Or simply a demonstration of power?
And what next?
It is 22 February 2022 - the next few days will bring clarity. But you have to have a special feel for numbers to deduce that history can be reversed.
And the U-Hunt exercise is needed to keep NATO submarines at a distance (if they can be located).
So it's more of a show for the media, similar to the pictures of aircraft carriers.