Russian special purpose boat in Finnish Waters

On Friday 26.7.2024 the Finnish Ministry of Defense reported that a Russian vessel had violated the Finnish territorial waters on the eastern Gulf of Finland. The fact that this was reported by the MOD, instead of the Border Guard, that is under the command of the Ministry of Interior, indicated that the vessel in question had been a Russian state one.

Mikhail Kazansky

Later on the same day it was confirmed that the vessel had been the Mikhail Kazansky , officially labelled as a hydrographic vessel in the Russian Baltic Fleet. Even a regular such boat has the sensors that can provide valuable intel for a navy that is planning hostile operations.

Project 23370G rendering

The Mikhail Kazansky is a Russian Navy Project 23370G class multipurpose boat, it has the capability to transport teams into unprepared shores as well as deploy variety of buoys, officially navigation ones, but the same deployment system can be used for listening devices etc. The hull also offers the capability to transport small submersibles amd swimmer delivery vehicles.

Hull of a Project 23370 boat

The Project 23370G is a derivative of the multipurpose rescue and support boat the Project 23370M that can be configured to various missions by swapping out containerized modules. These modules include the Merlin 350 UUV and a pressure chamber for deep diving operations.

If Russia is snooping around the most vulnerable Finnish waters with this type of a craft, it could mean preparations for any number of malicious acts.

Project 23370M with diver support modules

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