Ukraine’s Defense Forces Capture Former Commander of Russian Caspian Flotilla Minesweeper

Ukrainian Defense Forces have captured a former Russian Navy minesweeper commander from the Caspian Flotilla.

A video of the interrogation was published on the Butusov Plus YouTube channel.

The detainee has been identified as Captain-Lieutenant Alexey Mamayev, born on December 26, 1984. During Russia’s war against Ukraine, he served as a platoon commander in the 165th Combined Battalion of Military Unit 77948.

A native of St. Petersburg, Mamayev was captured near the settlement of Tyotkino in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces had advanced and taken control of several enemy positions.

According to Mamayev, combat activity in his unit’s area intensified in early May. His company commander ordered him to establish an observation post on the outskirts of Tyotkino, near a cemetery.

“When we dug in, they were supposed to bring us food and water at the crossroads, so I sent two men to get it. Three of us stayed. I kept digging in, they set up a position for me, and the other two monitored the situation. One of them told me, ‘Guys are coming.’ I looked out — they were running in ‘cartoon’ [ed.: slang for MultiCAM camouflage], looked like ours. But the sun was blinding, so I couldn’t tell for sure.

They looked the same. Then they shouted, ‘Come to us.’ They ran up, ordered us to put our hands up, searched us, took everything, tied me up, and threw me into the trench,” Mamayev said. He went on to describe the weapons at the post: one machine gun, four magazines, and four additional ammunition boxes.

Mamayev also shared that in 2013, he had commanded a minesweeper in the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla.

After graduating from the M. V. Frunze Higher Naval School in St. Petersburg, he joined the navy.

He served for six years in Dagestan as a minesweeper commander before being dismissed for alleged failure to fulfill his contract. According to Mamayev, he had fallen out of favor with a superior officer promoting his associates. Mamayev was allowed to return to service in 2024, on the condition that he first serve in the infantry.

As of 2013, the Caspian Flotilla had seven minesweepers:

• Base minesweeper Magomed Gadzhiev (561), Project 1265 “Yakhont”
• Base minesweeper German Ugryumov (562), Project 1265 “Yakhont”
• Raid minesweeper RT-59 (360), Project 697TB (transferred to the Black Sea Fleet in 2023)
• Raid minesweeper RT-181 (362), Project 697TB
• Raid minesweeper RT-71 (361), Project 1258 “Corund”
• Raid minesweeper RT-233 (363), Project 10750
• Raid minesweeper RT-234 (364), Project 10750

Due to limited public data, the specific minesweeper commanded by Mamayev could not be identified in open sources.