Russia's WWII Camouflage Tactic to Protect Black Sea Fleet

Russia is attempting to disguise its Black Sea Fleet using camouflage tactics similar to those employed during World War II, according to an American submarine expert's analysis of satellite imagery.

OSINT and naval analyst H. I. Sutton said Moscow is employing a "radical new approach" to try and protect its most prized warships from Ukrainian drone attacks. The Russian Navy has painted the bow and stern of one of its two Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates in the Black Sea, the expert said, suggesting that this "deceptive camouflage" is likely a response to the drone threats.

The official primary headquarters for the Black Sea Fleet is located in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea. Extensive fortifications have been spotted along Crimea's coast and at the Russian Sevastopol naval base recently as Russia braces for a Ukrainian advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged last summer to reverse Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Many fear that an attempt by Ukraine to recapture the Black Sea peninsula would be a red line for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) published images last week that appear to show Russia has doubled the number of specially trained dolphins deployed to protect its Black Sea Fleet and Crimea from Ukrainian attacks.

Sutton said satellite images of the warship, from Planet, were first shared online by Ukraine war observer M. T. Anderson, dated June 19 in Sevastopol. The vessel appeared in the Russian city of Novorossiysk two days later, on June 21, and images showed it had been given a new lick of paint.

The tactic is possibly "intended to confuse [Ukrainian] drone operators into mistaking it for a less valuable target," Sutton wrote in a report published by Naval News.

The defense analyst noted that during World War II, the Kriegsmarine—the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945—painted its battleship K.M.S. Bismarck in a similar manner in an attempt to confuse observers about the vessel's size and identity.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is increasingly being targeted by maritime drones. Major General Vadym Skibitsky, deputy chief of Ukraine's military intelligence, said on May 3 that Russia had moved most of its Black Sea Fleet warships from its primary base in Crimea to safer waters in Russian territory.

Skibitsky said the majority of Russia's Black Sea Fleet vessels had been relocated to Novorossiysk.

"We see that the Russians are afraid. That base in Sevastopol and other military facilities are now heavily guarded; the occupiers are equipping positions to protect against attacks on this infrastructure," Skibitsky said.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry via email for comment.

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