Russia May Have Lost Two Kalibr Missile Carriers — Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen

Russian Black Sea Fleet frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen were seriously damaged during the August 12 strike on the Novorossiysk naval base.

The OSINT website Absolutely Reliable Source published a satellite image that appears to show damage to the launch systems. This suggests that the frigates may have lost the ability to launch Kalibr missiles, although the exact extent of the damage to the ships has not been officially disclosed.

Damage to the frigates on August 12 was officially reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelensky. The latest imagery provides the first indication of the possible extent of the damage.

According to Absolutely Reliable Source, a strike on Admiral Essen’s bow deformed the deck and destroyed an eight-cell module of the 3S14 Universal Vertical Launching System (UKSK), designed to launch Kalibr missiles.

The ship’s Trebovanie-M combat information and control system was also reportedly damaged.

On Admiral Makarov, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the strike hit the area of the vertical launchers. This reportedly caused an internal detonation and burned out the 3S14 UKSK launch tubes.

The ship also sustained damage to its radar, electronic warfare and communications systems.

Thus, the Russian Black Sea Fleet may have lost two of its main Kalibr missile carriers simultaneously.

If the damage to the launch systems is confirmed, both frigates will require extensive repairs, and they could take at least a year to return to operational service.

At the beginning of 2026, it was already reported that the Admiral Essen had been hit.

Both ships belong to Project 11356R Burevestnik, a series of Russian multipurpose frigates based on the Talwar-class export ships built for the Indian Navy.

Three frigates of this project entered service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet: Admiral Grigorovich, Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov.

Admiral Grigorovich, the only surviving ship of the series, is in the Baltic region and was last seen opening warning fire on a British yacht in the English Channel. It is also known that in April it escorted several Russian shadow fleet tankers through the English Channel.