According to information published by the UK Ministry of Defense on March 13, 2022, Russian naval forces have established a distant blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade. Russia could look to conduct further such operations in the coming weeks.
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Map of the situation on the territory of Ukraine (Picture source: UK MoD)
A U.S. defense official confirmed a robust Russian amphibious assault was possible, with thousands of Russian naval infantry moving ashore from the Black Sea.
On March 3, 2022, a video was published showing a dozen Russian landing ships off the coast of Crimea which could be, among others, Ropucha-class and Ivan Gren-class landing ships.
The Ivan Gren-class, Russian designation Project 11711, is a class of landing ship in service with the Russian Navy. Two ships of this class have already been delivered to the Russian Navy including the Ivan Gren and Pyotr Morgunov, and two other ships are under construction.
The Ivan Gren-class has a displacement of 5,000–6,000 tons and is able to carry up to 13 main battle tanks or 36 armored personnel carriers as well as up to 300 marines. She is armed with one 30 mm AK-630M-2 automatic cannon, two 30 mm AK-630 guns, and two 14.5 mm KPV type heavy machine guns.
