Russia transfers Karakurt-class missile corvette Amur from Black Sea to Baltic Fleet.

Russia has transferred the Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvette Amur from the Black Sea Fleet to the Baltic Fleet, following the completion of trials in the Caspian Sea.

The Russian Navy’s newest Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvette, the Amur, was photographed at Petrovskaya Harbor in Kronstadt on October 26, 2025, confirming its reassignment from the Black Sea Fleet to the Baltic Fleet. The ship was moved through Russia’s internal waterway network after completing Caspian trials in 2024. Commissioned in August 2024, the Amur now joins a growing group of compact, precision-strike vessels stationed near Saint Petersburg.
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The Karakurt-class corvette's armament includes an eight-cell 3S14 UKSK universal launcher for Kalibr land-attack and anti-ship missiles, a 76 mm AK-176MA gun, and, on later hulls, the Pantsir-M close-in air defense system. (Picture source: Airbase.Ru/Curious)

The small missile ship Amur of Project 22800 was photographed at Petrovskaya Harbor in Kronstadt on October 26, 2025, confirming its transfer to the Baltic Fleet via Russia’s inland waterway network. The vessel was built at the Zaliv Shipyard in Kerch under yard number 803, with its keel laid on July 30, 2017, launched on December 26, 2022, and sea trials beginning in December 2023. It was relocated from Novorossiysk to the Caspian Sea in April 2024 to complete trials and acceptance outside the combat zone, and it was officially commissioned into the Russian Navy under the Black Sea Fleet on August 26, 2024. The transfer to the Baltic followed this commissioning and continued the established practice of moving new ships through internal waterways to safer operational areas. The image taken at Kronstadt by the Russian user Curious provides the first visual confirmation of its arrival, situating Amur among the most recently built missile ships now operating under Baltic command.

Petrovskaya Harbor, also known as the Winter Pier, is part of the Kronstadt naval base complex located on Kotlin Island, which serves as one of the key operational bases of the Russian Baltic Fleet. The harbor provides year-round mooring capability, logistical support, and maintenance infrastructure for small missile ships, corvettes, and patrol craft. It lies within a fortified area controlling the approaches to Saint Petersburg and is directly connected to the base’s fuel depots, storage areas, and ship-repair workshops. The harbor’s strategic value stems from its accessibility, its proximity to command facilities, and its integration with coastal defense networks that secure the Gulf of Finland. Petrovskaya Harbor remains a critical location for mooring and refitting Baltic Fleet vessels, with its infrastructure adapted to manage frequent rotations and seasonal conditions that influence operations in northern waters.

The Baltic Fleet is one of Russia’s oldest naval formations and operates primarily from the bases of Baltiysk and Kronstadt, maintaining control over maritime routes in the Gulf of Finland and the southern Baltic Sea. Its responsibilities include protecting maritime access to Saint Petersburg, supporting coastal defense, and sustaining a limited strike capability through small missile ships and corvettes equipped with long-range precision weapons. The fleet’s area of operations is geographically constrained and bordered by NATO member states, resulting in a focus on compact, heavily armed vessels designed for confined waters. It fields a combination of Buyan-M and Karakurt missile ships, patrol vessels, landing ships, submarines, and auxiliaries capable of fulfilling deterrence and local defense missions. This composition provides a flexible response capability while minimizing the risks associated with larger surface combatants operating in heavily monitored and restricted sea lanes.

Recent developments in the Baltic Fleet have centered on integrating newer vessels capable of carrying Kalibr missiles and advanced air defense systems. Ships such as Odintsovo have introduced the Pantsir-M system, enhancing close-in protection against aerial and missile threats. Infrastructure modernization has been directed toward Kronstadt and Baltiysk, where maintenance capacity, communications links, and support for coastal missile systems are being improved. The fleet continues to conduct readiness exercises and limited deterrence patrols in the Baltic basin. However, environmental and logistical limitations, including shallow depths, ice accumulation during winter months, and narrow operating zones, constrain its capacity to deploy larger units. Within this framework, the arrival of Amur strengthens the fleet’s inventory of precision-strike platforms suited for near-shore defense and theater-level operations in a compact maritime domain.

The Black Sea Fleet, to which Amur was initially assigned, has faced significant operational challenges and material losses since 2022, including repeated attacks on naval bases and docked vessels. Several ships were damaged or destroyed in strikes on Sevastopol, and the security situation has made it difficult to carry out ship trials and acceptance activities in the region. As a result, newly built ships from Kerch and other shipyards were redirected to the Caspian Sea, where testing and crew training could be conducted without direct threat. This decision allowed construction and induction schedules to continue despite ongoing hostilities. Once vessels completed trials, they were reassigned to other fleets based on operational priorities. Amur’s eventual transfer to the Baltic fits within this pattern, showing the adaptation of naval logistics to wartime conditions through reliance on protected internal transport routes.

Russia’s internal waterway system connecting the Caspian, Volga, Don, and Baltic basins allows the movement of naval assets between enclosed seas without passing through international straits. The transfer of Amur demonstrates the operational use of these routes to reposition ships efficiently between the Black Sea, Caspian, and Baltic Fleets. Such flexibility has been used in multiple cases since 2023 to reinforce fleets experiencing attrition or modernization delays. This logistical network enables the redistribution of small missile ships capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles, ensuring continued regional coverage despite combat losses. The inland transit of vessels like Amur minimizes exposure to international chokepoints and maritime interdiction, providing a secure internal path for ship deployment across Russia’s separate naval theaters.

The Amur is a standard Project 22800 Karakurt-class small missile ship (a class also classified as a corvette), which combines compact dimensions with missile capability. The ship measures about 67 meters in length, 11 meters in beam, and around 4 meters in draft, with a displacement of approximately 800 tons. Its propulsion system consists of three M507D-1 diesel engines driving three shafts, providing a maximum speed near 30 knots and an economical cruising range of around 2,500 nautical miles. It carries an eight-cell 3S14 UKSK vertical launcher capable of firing Kalibr cruise missiles, a 76 mm AK-176MA gun, and, in later hulls, the Pantsir-M close-in weapon system. The class also includes radar systems such as Mineral-M and Pozitiv-MK, the Sigma combat management system, navigation radar MR-231, and the capacity to operate an Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle. Crew size varies between 50 and 70, depending on configuration.

The Karakurt program involves several Russian shipyards, including Pella in Saint Petersburg, Zelenodolsk, Zaliv in Kerch, and the Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Amur was the third unit built at Kerch under a 2016 contract managed by Ak Bars, following Askold and Tsiklon. The latter was reportedly lost in 2024, while Askold sustained heavy damage during a 2023 attack on Kerch. Other hulls, such as Rzhev and Udomlya, were launched in September 2023 at the Amur Shipyard. Production has been affected by engine shortages and wartime disruptions, leading to delays in delivery, yet construction continues with new ships distributed among the Baltic, Pacific, and Caspian Fleets.