64th Water Area Protection Brigade
Identification
I assess this record matches the Baltiysk-based water-area-protection ship formation of the Baltic Fleet’s Baltic Naval Base in Baltiysk, Kaliningrad Oblast. Baltiysk is the fleet’s main naval base, and recent Russian reporting repeatedly places water-area-protection anti-submarine ships and minesweepers there. The legacy numeric title 64th brigade still appears in some older/local references, but recent 2024-2025 reporting usually uses a generic formation label instead. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/obschestvo/23974601?utm_source=openai))
Mission
Verified tasks for this Baltiysk formation are close-in anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, protection of points of basing and nearby sea lanes, and defense against UAVs, uncrewed surface craft, and underwater saboteurs. In 2024-2025, fleet reporting described these forces clearing exercise minefields, protecting shipping, and rehearsing defense of the base area against drones and divers. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/23753753))
Confirmed ships
Open reporting ties small anti-submarine ships Kabardino-Balkaria and Aleksin to this mission set, and identifies mine-countermeasure ships Alexander Obukhov and Lev Chernavin in Baltiysk Naval Base exercises; raid minesweeper Vasily Polyakov also appears in Baltic Naval Base mine-warfare drills. Kabardino-Balkaria has been specifically described as part of the water-area-protection ship formation of the Baltic Naval Base. ([tass.com](https://tass.com/defense/1148395))
Order-of-battle caveat
The placemark labels 146th Anti-Submarine Ship Tactical Group and 323rd Minesweeper Squadron are plausible legacy identifiers, but I could not verify their current official use in 2024-2025 fleet releases. Recent reporting instead uses generic water-area-protection formation wording, and some ships named in the placemark text, including Urengoy and Zelenodolsk, were described in 2024 reporting as belonging to the Leningrad Naval Base rather than Baltiysk, indicating the supplied ship roster is at least partly outdated or mixed. ([tass.ru](https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/23230559?utm_source=openai))
Geographic relevance
Baltiysk sits at the entrance to the Vistula Lagoon and is connected by canal to Kaliningrad, making it the seaward gate for the enclave’s port system and a logical location for base-defense and mine-countermeasure forces. That geography also underpins regional logistics: Rosmorport reported more than 1 million tons moved on the Ust-Luga-Kaliningrad ferry line in the first nine months of 2024 after the ferry Baltiysk returned to service. ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/place/Vistula-Lagoon))