The Caspian Flotilla has joined the bombardment of Ukraine from 600 miles away, as Russian warships fire new Kalibr cruise missiles from a second sea.
The long-range shelling strategy means the Russian Navy is now engaged in the war from both the Caspian Sea and Black Sea.
The Kremlin confirmed on Sunday that Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles were launched from their ships based in the Caspian Sea to target a fuel depot near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka.
MiG-31 fighter jets also fired Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which can fly at speeds of up to 3,700mph, at the same target.
Meanwhile, more Kalibr missiles were launched from ships in the Black Sea to hit an armour repair plant in Nizhyn in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed yesterday that the Caspian Flotilla was now playing an active role in bombarding key targets. It means their missiles are flying hundreds of miles - often at low altitude - over Russian territory from vessels in the Caspian Sea near the flotilla’s headquarters at Astrakhan.
The move suggests Russian generals are no longer pursuing a land invasion to try to target key cities like Kyiv and Odesa, where they have encountered fierce resistance. Instead, the Kremlin appears to be relying on the indiscriminate use of firepower, which carries a greater likelihood of civilian casualties in a strategy of attrition.
The role of the Caspian Flotilla means a new front has opened up in the war.
Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, said: “From the waters of the Caspian Sea, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as from the airspace over the territory of Crimea, Kinzhal aircraft missile systems with hypersonic air ballistic missiles destroyed a large storage base of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Konstantinovka.
“The main supplies of fuel for Ukrainian armoured vehicles in the areas of combat operations in the south of Ukraine were carried out from this base.
"From the waters of the Black Sea, sea-based Kalibr cruise missiles at the Nizhyn repair plant destroyed workshops for repairing Ukrainian armoured vehicles damaged in combat operations.”
The Kremlin has spent billions of pounds modernising both its Black Sea and Caspian Sea fleets.
In 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, the Russian Navy was shown to be made up of numerous out of date Soviet-era vessels.
After the annexation, the Black Sea Fleet was moved to the Crimean port of Sevastopol where new state-of-the-art warships and submarines replaced ageing ones.
Experts from Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the military think tank, believe about a third of that fleet can now fire Kalibr ordnance, a missile with a range of more than 900 miles. Drones or manned surveillance planes are often sent to scout out potential targets before firing.
A recent RUSI report by Dr Sidharth Kaushal and Sam Cranny-Evans suggested the Black Sea Fleet could be used for “precision strike capabilities” to support ground forces.
They added: “The use of long-range strikes against politically sensitive targets is also central to the Russian approach to managing escalation and localising conflicts.
“Strikes on high-value targets can be used to remind both the immediate adversary and potential interveners of the risks of escalation if the conflict is not brought to a swift end.”
The military analysts added how “strikes on targets deep within Ukraine” can also accompany “shallower ground assaults.”
In the run up to the invasion, the Russian state controlled media reported how the Caspian Flotilla had commenced a series of training exercises.
Just this month, its artillery was reported to have “eliminated a simulated enemy’s infantry company” during an exercise on the Adanak training range, on the western banks of the sea, which also has borders with Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and Azerbaijan.
There were also damage control exercises in which crews on 10 ships had to respond to a simulated attack below the waterline.
The Caspian Flotilla was established in 1722 by Tsar Peter the Great. After the collapse of the Soviet Union most of its vessels were inherited by the Russian Federation.
Since 2000, the Caspian Flotilla has included the naval infantry brigade. About eight years ago, it was estimated that 85 per cent of the flotilla consists of modern ships. The fleet includes three Gepard class frigates, three Buyan class corvettes, three Tarantul class corvettes, three Matka class missile boats, four gunboats and three Sonaya class minesweepers.
The Russian-made Kalibr missile can be fired from a ship, submarine or from the air. Some have a final propulsion stage that triggers a supersonic sprint intended to help it evade defence systems as it approaches its target.
Russia has claimed the weapon has a range of about 930 miles, although the US believes they can reach 870 miles.
Russian officials say the Kinzhal - or Dagger - can hit a target up to 1,240 miles away. It is understood the missiles have been carried on some vessels in the Caspian flotilla since 2018 after testing of the weapon was carried out in the Arctic.
Last year, Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec State Corporation, Russia’s state-owned defence company, said: "First of all, they are highly accurate, they hit the target at a long distance. Plus they have a very high speed. It is virtually impossible to intercept such a missile. So far there is no such resistance to our missiles.”
