Black Sea Fleet

Russian Black Sea Fleet
Russian Black Sea Fleet
Черноморский флот
	Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet
Active	13 May 1783 – present
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1783–1917); Soviet Russia (1918–1922); Soviet Union (1922–1991); Commonwealth of Independent States (1991–1992); Russian Federation (1992–present);
Branch	Russian Navy
Role	Naval warfare;; Amphibious military operations;; Combat patrols in the Black Sea and occupied Sea of Azov
Size	25,000 personnel (including marines) (in 2014); * 7 diesel/electric submarines (SSKs - 1 badly damaged in 2023 & another possibly damaged in December 2025, 2 operating in the Mediterranean/Baltic, 3-4 (one 877 and two or three 636.3 Kilos) likely operational in the Black Sea as of end 2025; * c. 23 frigates, corvettes/large patrol vessels likely operational as of 2025 (of which 6 deployed in the Mediterranean/Baltic/Caspian; at least 4 major warships/corvettes reported sunk & 2+ badly damaged since 2022); ; * 4 major amphibious ships (+ 6 tasked to the Black Sea Fleet from the Northern & Baltic Fleets; at least 3 major amphibious vessels sunk and 2 badly damaged since 2022) ; * Other warships (mine countermeasures ships, smaller patrol vessels, landing craft) & numerous auxiliaires/support vessels also operational as of 2025
Part of	Russian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Sevastopol (HQ), Feodosia (Crimea) ; Novorossiysk HQ, Tuapse, Temryuk (Krasnodar Krai) ; Taganrog (Rostov Oblast)
Anniversaries	13 May
Engagements	Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) Battle of Tendra; ; Crimean War Battle of Sinop; ; World War I Battle of Cape Sarych; ; Russian Civil War; World War II Crimean offensive; ; Russo-Georgian War; Russo-Ukrainian War Russian invasion of Ukraine; ; Syrian civil war;
Commanders
Current; commander	Adm. Sergei Pinchuk
Notable; commanders	Grigory Potemkin; Adm. Fyodor Ushakov; Adm. Alexander Menshikov; Adm. Pavel Nakhimov; Adm. Yevgeni Alekseyev; Adm. Andrey Ehbergard; Adm. Alexander Kolchak; Adm. Ivan Yumashev; Adm. Filipp Oktyabrskiy; Adm. Lev Vladimirsky; Fleet Adm. Sergey Gorshkov; Fleet Adm. Vladimir Kasatonov; Adm. Vladimir Masorin

The Black Sea Fleet (Russian: Черноморский флот, romanized: Chernomorskiy flot) is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimean Peninsula, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The fleet traces its history to its founding by Prince Potemkin on 13 May 1783 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy. The Russian SFSR inherited the fleet in 1918; with the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, it became part of the Soviet Navy. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea Fleet was partitioned between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in 1997, with Russia receiving title to 82% of the vessels.

The Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities at the Sevastopol Naval Base, Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The rest of the fleet's facilities are based in locations on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, including Krasnodar Krai, Rostov Oblast and Crimea.

The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War led to major operations and losses due to Ukrainian missiles and umanned surface vehicles including the flagship Moskva and several landing vessels. Additionally, there was a 2023 Ukrainian missile strike against the Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol itself. After another attack on 24 March 2024, a Ukraine spokesperson said that they had disabled or damaged one third of the fleet during the war. In June 2024, Ukraine claimed it was now highly likely that they had destroyed all of the Black Sea Fleet's missile carrier capability based in Crimea.