105th Water Area Protection Brigade
Identity
The coordinates and placemark names match the Caspian Flotilla base area in Kaspiysk, but open sources do not publicly verify a 105th Water Area Protection Brigade there. Indexed material for a 105th brigade points to Kronstadt in the Baltic Fleet, while Dagestani and defense reporting on Kaspiysk identifies the resident formation as the 106th Brigade of Water Area Protection/Surface Ships, with the 250th Guards Surface Ship Division and 242nd Landing Ship Division at this site. ([kronvestnik.ru](https://kronvestnik.ru/society/7756?utm_source=openai))
Forces
Public reporting ties the Kaspiysk site to the 250th Guards Surface Ship Division and 242nd Landing Ship Division. Russian drill reporting in 2020 and 2024 listed combatants from this Caspian grouping including Dagestan, Tatarstan, Uglich, Veliky Ustyug and Grad Sviyazhsk, and Naval News reported in July 2024 that the new missile corvette Stupinets was intended for the 106th Brigade in Kaspiysk after trials. ([dagpravda.ru](https://dagpravda.ru/obshestvo/morskoj-boj-na-kaspii/))
Infrastructure
Russia decided in August 2017 to improve Caspian Flotilla infrastructure in Dagestan. In June 2021 the Kaspiysk surface-ship base was reported able to accommodate 54 ships and vessels, with the northern and southern piers already forming a protected water area; in March 2024 the Russian Defense Ministry said construction of more than 2 km of hydrotechnical works, berths and coastal support infrastructure in Kaspiysk was still ongoing. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1300299))
Operational value
The move from Astrakhan to Kaspiysk was justified in official Russian reporting by shallow water and winter freezing on the Volga approach, which complicated deployment from Astrakhan. Kaspiysk and Makhachkala were therefore designated as the flotilla’s basic ports, giving the Dagestan-based surface grouping better year-round access to the central and southern Caspian. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1300299))
Recent status
The site remains an active operational base: TASS said more than 30 Caspian Flotilla ships and vessels were committed to Ocean-2024, including Dagestan, Astrakhan, Volgodonsk, Veliky Ustyug and Grad Sviyazhsk. On November 6, 2024, Interfax reported tighter security at civilian and military sites in Dagestan after a UAV was downed over Kaspiysk; no official damage confirmation for the berth area was evident in the sources reviewed. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1841151))