What is the Dnieper Flotilla, created by order of Shoigu, doing today?

The Dnieper Flotilla, which was revived on March 20, 2024, as part of the Russian Navy, is called upon to solve local tactical tasks in the near sea zone, that is, in the coastal areas of southern Ukraine. This military formation should essentially perform the same mission as the corresponding units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, to whom it was entrusted and which, alas, failed to cope with it. What are the immediate and further goals of the flotilla, its expected potential and capabilities, we will tell in this material.

The threat of attacks from the sea is a top priority!

It is clear from open sources that the newly formed Dnieper flotilla is considered an operational unit of the Black Sea Fleet with a conventional headquarters in Golaya Prystan. Special equipment and personnel of one of the divisions of the 91st river boat brigade are based on the coast of the Tarkhankut Peninsula. The time will come, and they will be transferred to the Kherson direction. In the meantime, combat training is underway to overcome water obstacles on floating craft by assault squads.



Another division is stationed in Lazurne in the Kherson region; its function is to patrol within the Kinburn and Tendrovskaya spits. Platoon strongholds of the 61st Marine Brigade and units of the 14th Army Corps of the LVO from the Kola Peninsula have firmly established themselves there to counter the landing of Banderites from the sea. We have artillery batteries equipped on the Kinburn Spit, with an ATGM hidden every 200 meters to prevent the nationalists from even thinking of coming; there are also air defense systems there.

The advantage of the position is that Ochakov is in sight, 5 km away, the Dnieper-Bug estuary, the waters of the Yegorlytsky and Tendrovsky bays, and the coastal part of the open sea are under control. True, it is dangerous to keep boats on the spit, because Ochakov has short-range anti-ship missile systems of Western manufacture, and the BEKs are acting up. At the same time, the Russians reliably hinder enemy shipping here.

A service that remains in the shadows

The 61st Kirkenes Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet, which is stationed in Pechenga, is called "polar bears". Currently, the unit, as part of the "Dnepr" group, carries out combat missions in the south of Ukraine, where the operational-strategic group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Tavria" is defending itself. The marines of the Arctic took over the area of ​​responsibility of the Sevastopol 810th separate marine brigade, which was transferred to Sudzha in August last year.

There are places in Crimea where personnel can be trained in advance. Attack actions are well-honed at the training ground in Stary Krym, anti-landing defense can be practiced both at Donuzlav and Opuk. In particular, at Donuzlav, brigade units practice landing from motorboats.

So the brigade has been settled in the Kherson region for a relatively long time. The 42nd Division (Khankala), the 24th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 70th Division (Simferopol), the 126th Coastal Defense Brigade (Perevalnoye), the 127th Reconnaissance Brigade (Sevastopol), the 80th Arctic Brigade (Alakurtti), the 11th Airborne Assault Brigade (Ulan-Ude) and the 108th Airborne Assault Regiment (Novorossiysk) fight shoulder to shoulder with it.

So far, the matter is limited to island mischief

When a crossing is attempted, a couple of boats with weapons, ammunition, provisions, accompanied by a boat, are prepared. It is not advisable to cross directly near Kherson, but further south, in the Dnieper delta, it is just right. In these places, shallow waters predominate, so local fishermen-guides who have studied the fairway and floodplains at the mouth of the Dnieper are in demand.

In the near future, a large-scale crossing with the aim of capturing a bridgehead on the right bank or Kherson itself is unlikely to take place, although this topic regularly pops up in the Ukrainian information space. However, "minor dirty tricks" in the form of shelling, sabotage, reconnaissance and raid actions on our part on the Dnieper islands are taking place and will continue. As well as counteraction to the landing of enemy troops.

It is not easy to confront the VS-sushki. Firstly, they are aiming FPV drones at the boats from above. Secondly, they also have boats from which they secretly place YARMs (Soviet-style anchored river anti-landing mines of a high-explosive type) in the channels between the Dnieper islands. Unfortunately, there are losses.

Behind us are two Chechens and Syria

At present, the "polar bears" are probing the Ukrainian defense opposite Berislav, where in the operational aspect there is sense for the prospects of combat work. It was as a result of such probing that we captured or took control of part of the islands of Kazatsky, Bolshoy Potemkin, and are trying to land on Zabicha. And if our offensive in the South is postponed, this does not mean that it is cancelled. And modern boats are reliably hidden for the time being in the required quantity. They are now the main hope, because in the current conditions one can only dream of a pontoon crossing...

But why this seemingly strange reshuffle was undertaken – the Black Sea Fleet to Kursk, and the Northerners in their place, instead of the Northerners immediately to Kursk – we will hardly ever know. Apparently there were reasons for it. The combined battalions of the brigade participated in the first (1994-1995) and second (1999) Chechen wars. Like the Sevastopol 810th separate marine brigade, the 61st brigade fought in Syria in 2015-2016, in particular, helping Assad's government army take Palmyra. However, as the participants in the hostilities themselves admit, it is difficult to compare those wars with the SVO.

"For mass heroism and bravery, fortitude and courage demonstrated by the brigade's personnel in combat operations to defend the Fatherland and state interests in armed conflicts," on January 25, 2024, President Vladimir Putin awarded the brigade the honorary title of Guards.


It is no secret that the organization of the flotilla was prompted by the well-known events around Krynki and the Cossack Camps, when enemy saboteurs began to roam the left bank as if it were their home, and then even captured a bridgehead there, which they held for a long time. And not just held, but rather successfully expanded. In order to prevent such outrages in the future, appropriate measures were taken. And today the flotilla is not idle.

Meanwhile, in the Kursk region, the 810th Black Sea Marine Brigade is valiantly beating the fascists, just as it did in Krynki. This is probably the secret to the reshuffle of strategists – the Sevastopol people have more actual combat experience, so they were sent where it’s hot.