RFS Varyag

RFS Varyag

**Russian cruiser *Varyag*** (Russian: *Варяг*, lit. 'Varangian') (formerly-*Chervona Ukraina*), is the third ship of the Slava-class of guided missile cruisers built for the Soviet Navy now serving the Russian Navy.

### Career

Laid down on 31 July 1979 at 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant (Shipyard 445) in Mykolaiv as *Chervona Ukraina* ("Red Ukraine"), the vessel was launched in 28 August 1983, and commissioned on 16 October 1989. The warship joined the Pacific Fleet in 1990. Today, *Varyag* is part of the 36th Surface Ship Division at Vladivostok and has a pennant number 011.

Between 5–8 June 1990, she paid a friendly visit to Kiel, Germany.

While in transit from Sevastopol to the new permanent base Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky from 27 September to 5 November 1990, *Varyag* and destroyer *Bystry* visited Vietnamese base Cam Ranh between 22 and 24 October.

In 1991–1992 she was engaged in combat training, but in 1993–1994 she didn't go to sea, due to the lack of financing. The combat training resumed only in 1995.

The ship was renamed on 21 December 1995.

Between 9 and 13 February 1997 the ship paid a friendly visit to the South Korean port of Incheon, returning to Vladivostok on 19 February.

Between 2 and 6 October 1999, *Varyag* and destroyer *Bystry* visited Shanghai, China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the state.

Between 10 and 15 October 2002, the ship visited the Japanese city of Yokosuka to honor the 50th anniversary of the Japanese Navy.

Between 10 and 15 February 2004, *Varyag*, destroyer *Admiral Tributs* and corvette *Koreets* visited the South Korean port of Incheon to commemorate 100th anniversary of the loss of the cruiser *Varyag* (1899), with commander of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Viktor Fedorov on board.

Between September and December 2005, the ship led a ship detachment on visits to Visakhapatnam (India), Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia), Sattahip (Thailand) and Haiphong (Vietnam).

*Varyag* re-entered service with the Pacific Fleet in May 2008 after an overhaul. During the refit, the main missile complex was upgraded from P-500 Bazalt to P-1000 Vulkan.

In April 2009 the ship paid a visit to the Chinese city of Qingdao to honor the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Navy. In October/November the same year, the ship also visited Singapore.

In June 2010, *Varyag*, under the command of Captain Eduard Moskalenko and with the Commander of the Northern Fleet Combined Forces Rear-Admiral Vladimir L. Kasatonov embarked, made a port call to San Francisco. The visit, the first by a Russian Navy surface combatant in 147 years, featured a plaque dedication ceremony to commemorate six Russian Imperial Navy sailors who died fighting a fire in San Francisco in 1863. This visit also coincided with President Medvedev visiting Silicon Valley and he once again visited *Varyag* as he had in Singapore in 2009. *Varyag* also participated in training exercises with USS *Bunker Hill*.

From 8 to 11 November 2011 *Varyag*, accompanied by the tanker *Irkut*, made a port visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, to commemorate servicemen killed in armed conflicts. *Varyag* was escorted into Vancouver by the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS *Algonquin*, and *Varyag*'s crew engaged in friendly sports matches with their Canadian counterparts from *Algonquin*.

In 2012, *Varyag* participated in the yearly exercise with the Chinese Navy off Qingdao.

In 2013 the ship departed on a long voyage to the Mediterranean Sea, visiting Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), Salalah (Oman) and Alexandria (Egypt).

In November 2014, *Varyag* led a deployment of four Russian naval vessels to international waters off Australia. The deployment was believed to be linked to the 2014 G-20 Brisbane summit and growing tensions between the two nations.

In early January 2016, after a visit to India, *Varyag* entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to be deployed off Syria′s shore replacing sister ship *Moskva*, in support of Russia's air operation in Syria that had begun in autumn 2015. The ship was named flagship of the Russian naval task force positioned in the eastern Mediterranean.

On 21 April 2017, the ship visited Manila (Philippines), Cam Ranh (Vietnam), Sattahip (Thailand) and Singapore.

In late 2018 *Varyag* completed another long voyage to India.

On 1 October 2019, *Varyag*, destroyer *Admiral Panteleyev* and tanker *Pechenga* embarked on a three-month deployment under the command of the Captain 1st Rank Aleksandr Shvarts, visiting Muara, Brunei between 3–7 November and Pusan, South Korea between 17 and 22 December, before returning to the homeport on 23 December.

In February–March 2021, *Varyag* participated in the large-scale anti-submarine, air defence and artillery exercises of the Pacific Fleet, along with a conventional submarine, destroyer *Admiral Tributs*, modernized frigate *Marshal Shaposhnikov* and universal corvettes *Gromkiy* and *Sovershennyy*, anti-submarine corvettes *MPK-107*, *Ust-Ilimsk*, *Sovetskaya Gavan*, *Metel* and *MPK-82* as well as anti-ship corvettes *R-14*, *R-18*, *R-20*, *R-29*, *Iney*, *Razliv*, *R-297*, *Smerch* and others. The auxiliary ships present in the area during the exercise were Project 97 icebreaker *Sadko*, as well as tugs *MB-99*, *Andrey Stepanov* and at least four others.

On 1 May 2021, in a rare event two detachments of the Pacific Fleet embarked on distant deployments simultaneously, *Varyag* and *Marshal Shaposhnikov* as well as corvettes *Sovershennyy*, *Gromky* and *Aldar Tsydenzhapov*. Both detachments were supported by large sea tanker *Boris Butoma*. On 11 May, *Admiral Tributs* was also reported on a deployment, calling at Singapore between 11 and 13 May, accompanied by tug *Kalar.* All in all, all active major surface combatants of the Pacific Fleet were deployed simultaneously, i.e. a cruiser, three destroyers and three corvettes. Tanker *Boris Butoma* called at Cam Ranh, Vietnam between 15 and 19 May and at the Philippines on 22 May. *Sovershennyy* and *Gromky* held exercises in the Philippine Sea on 30 May.

Between 7 and 24 June 2021, *Varyag* led the largest exercise of the post-Soviet Pacific Fleet that took place in the central Pacific Ocean off Hawaii, being the first post-Cold war Russian naval exercise in that area (minor exceptions being destroyer *Admiral Panteleyev* taking part in RIMPAC-2012 exercise and frigate *Admiral Gorshkov* sailing near Hawaii in 2019). Besides the cruiser, it included destroyers *Marshal Shaposhnikov* and *Admiral Panteleyev*, corvettes *Sovershennyy*, *Gromkiy* and *Aldar Tsydenzhapov*, a nuclear submarine, (likely *Omsk*) intelligence ship *Kareliya* and tanker *Irkut*.

The exercise started in the central Pacific Ocean on 10 June and on 21 June, the ships 2500 nautical miles southeast of the Kuril Islands simulated an attack on the enemy carrier strike group. Prior to that, the ships operated in two groups, sailing at 300 nautical miles from each other, one of them playing the role of enemy. The largest auxiliary ship of the Russian Navy *Marshal Krylov* also took part in the exercise and acted as a command ship for the commander of the exercise, rear admiral Konstantin Kabantsev, commander of Primorskaya Flotilla, as well as hospital ship *Irtysh* and MiG-31 interceptors and Il-38 and Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft.

On 24 June, the final day of the exercise, three Tu-95 bombers, several Tu-22M bombers, escorted by interceptors MiG-31BM and two Il-78 tankers flew to the central Pacific Ocean as well. The Tu-95s delivered conditional strikes against the enemy's critical infrastructure and Tu-22M delivered strikes against the enemy's conditional carrier strike group together with *Varyag* and *Marshal Shaposhnikov*. It was suggested that the exercise was an answer to the exercise Agile Dagger 2021 of the US Pacific Fleet, employing one third of the operational submarines of the US Pacific Fleet.

In September 2021, *Varyag* conducted an exercise off Kamchatka along with nuclear submarine *Omsk* and 12 ships and support vessels of the Pacific Fleet. The cruiser fired a Vulkan missile, while *Omsk* fired a Granit missile.

In October 2021, *Varyag* was underway in the Sea of Japan again.

On 23 November 2021, Dalzavod reported on its Instagram channel that the cruiser entered its dry dock.

On 29 December 2021, *Varyag*, along with destroyer *Admiral Tributs* and tanker *Boris Butoma*, left Vladivostok for a long deployment, consisting of port calls in several countries. On 11 January 2022, the warships entered the Indian Ocean, and called at Kochi on 14 January 2022. On 18 January 2022, the taskforce anchored in Chabahar, and reports stated that the ships plan to hold joint exercises with the Iranian and Chinese navies. On 2 February 2022, the cruiser entered the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal and linked-up with her sister ship, *Marshal Ustinov* deploying to the Mediterranean from the Northern Fleet. In July 2022, *Varyag*, *Admiral Tributs* and intelligence ship *Vasily Tatishchev* became the first of the Russian Navy's ships operating in the Adriatic Sea since 1995 *Volk*'s deployment amid US bombardment of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In late July, destroyer *Admiral Tributs* operated off Šibenik, intelligence ship *Vasily Tatishchev* operated near island Palagruža, cruiser *Varyag* operated near Durres, while frigate *Admiral Grigorovich* remained just outside the Adriatic Sea. As the US carrier *Truman* was located in the Adriatic Sea at the same time, there were reports in media about Russian warships simulating blocking the US carrier to the Adriatic Sea.

In October 2022, *Varyag*, *Admiral Tributs* and *Boris Butoma* departed the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal likely returning to their bases in the Pacific. On 18 November, the three ships returned to Vladivostok.