184th Water Area Protection Brigade
Identification
This record is best matched to the 184th Water Area Protection Brigade at Novorossiysk Naval Base, Black Sea Fleet. An older public order-of-battle reference places the 184th brigade in Novorossiysk with ships such as Yeisk, Kasimov, Povorino, Zheleznyakov, Valentin Pikul, and Vice-Admiral Zakharyin, while later TASS reporting shows Project 22160 patrol ships entering the Novorossiysk water-area-protection group. ([vesti.ru](https://www.vesti.ru/article/2048006))
Mission
Open reporting ties this Novorossiysk force to four main functions: defense of the base’s water area and anchorage, local anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, and anti-sabotage/harbor security. TASS reported Kasimov and Yeisk conducting ASW drills for the Crimean and Novorossiysk bases, Valentin Pikul performing mine-countermeasure training, and anti-saboteur exercises at Novorossiysk using Grachyonok- and Raptor-class boats; when Pavel Derzhavin was commissioned on November 27, 2020, it was explicitly assigned to the naval group protecting the Novorossiysk base’s water area. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1340707))
Observed vessels
Publicly documented vessels associated with this force at Novorossiysk include patrol ships Vasily Bykov, Dmitry Rogachev, and Pavel Derzhavin; ASW ships Yeisk and Kasimov; minesweepers Zheleznyakov and Valentin Pikul; and Grachyonok/Raptor anti-sabotage craft delivered to or exercised from the base. Exact current composition as of March 12, 2026 is not fully public and may differ from older public lists. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1047941?utm_source=openai))
Infrastructure
The brigade operates in Novorossiysk’s Tsemess Bay, where the naval base was developed around a deep-water protective mole; RIA described that structure as more than 45 meters deep and over 1.5 kilometers long. The base sits inside the wider Novorossiysk port complex, which Reuters described in August 2023 as a major oil and grain export hub whose traffic was temporarily disrupted during a naval-drone incident. Together, those factors indicate a protected but heavily used dual-use harbor environment of high logistical value. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20080607/109472235.html))
Threat picture
Recent incidents show that Novorossiysk is exposed to maritime drone attack. On August 4, 2023, Russia said two unmanned surface craft targeting the Novorossiysk naval base were destroyed with no damage, but Reuters verified video of the landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak being towed while listing after the same event, indicating that at least one naval vessel near the base was damaged; on July 3, 2024, Interfax-Russia reported another sea-drone attack repelled in Tsemess Bay. Open reporting on Novorossiysk repeatedly emphasizes air-defense integration and anti-saboteur/base-defense drills, which is consistent with that threat environment. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/politics/1656479?utm_source=openai))