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Olenya Bay

69°12′51″N 33°22′12″E / 69.21417°N 33.37000°E / 69.21417; 33.37000

Olenya Bay or Olenya Guba (Russian: Оле́нья губа) is a bay of the Barents Sea on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is an extension of the Kola Inlet, which opens out to the north into the Barents Sea. The Pechenga River discharges into the bay.

GUGI: 29th submarine division Military Unit 13090

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Map of the Northern Fleet bases

A Russian naval, formerly Soviet, base is located on the shores of the bay.[1] The base supports GUGI (Russian: Главное управление глубоководных исследований (ГУГИ), transcribed as Glavnoye upravlenie glubokovodnikh issledovanii or GUGI) with its objective to operate submarines that are able to dive deep into the sea, in order to gather intelligence or to work with installations on the seabed, including sabotage.[2][3][4][5][6][7] It is part of the naval installation at Gadzhievo (also known as Skalisty) in the Murmansk Oblast, and is home port to submarine units of Russia's Northern Fleet including the 29th submarine division Military Unit 13090 (Russian: в/ч 13090) which was known as the 29th special purpose submarine brigade from 1979 until January 2018.[6][8][9][10][11] The Russian vessel Yantar is often seen moored at Olenya Bay.[12]

According to a 2008 article in Kommersant,[8] the 29th special purpose submarine brigade included:

  • 29th Separate Submarine Brigade (Olenya Bay) under the command of Commander Captain 1st Rank Nikolai Gritsevich (Russian: Николай Грицевич).
    • AS-13, a Project 1910 deep-sea nuclear power plant. In the fleet since 1986.
    • AS-15, a Project 1910 deep-water nuclear power plant. In the fleet since 1991.
    • AS-33, a deep-water nuclear power plant of Project 1910. In the fleet since 1994.
    • AS-21, a special-purpose nuclear submarine of project 1851. In the fleet since 1991.
    • AS-23, a special-purpose nuclear submarine of project 1851. In the fleet since 1986.
    • AS-35, a special-purpose nuclear submarine of project 1851. In the fleet since 1995.
    • AS-12, a Project 10831 deep-water nuclear power plant. In the fleet since 1997.
    • KS-129 Orenburg, a special-purpose nuclear submarine of project 09786. In the fleet since 1981. As of February 2008, Commander Captain 1st Rank Alexei Sokolov (Russian: Алексей Соколов) and under repair.

Belgorod

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In July 2022, the Belgorad, which is a sister ship of the Kursk that was home ported at Vidyayevo, joined the 29th submarine division.[13][14][15][16]

GUGI reactors

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Okolnaya Bay (Russian: Бухта Окольная) is the location of undersea GUGI reactors.[17][18][19] Near Severomorsk according to a Barents Observer article, support for nuclear weapons handling which possibly could be used for Poseidon drones deployed in the Barents Arctic region are located at Okolnaya Bay as well.[17][20][21] According to a November 2016 Izvestia article, Okolnaya supports "Harmony-S" (Russian: «Гармония-С») for the system index "Harmony-NZ" (Russian: индекс «Гармония-НЗ») which uses robotic autonomous bottom stations (ABS) that are covertly installed on the seabed by special submarines.[22]

Hvaldimir

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In May 2019 satellite views of the base taken from Google maps were republished noting pens that suggested military use of cetaceans at Olenya Bay, including possibly a tame beluga whale discovered in Northern Norway what has been dubbed Hvaldimir.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ National Photographic Interpretation Center (2006-01-17) [May 1964]. "Olenya Guba Submarine Base, Olenya Bay, USSR" (PDF). United States government, Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2017.
  2. ^ Johnson, Bridget (22 March 2018). "Russia's 'Seabed Warfare' Could Hit Vast Networks of Underwater Communications Cables". Homeland Security Today (www.hstoday.us). Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Russia a 'risk' to undersea cables, defence chief warns". BBC. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Could Russia cut undersea communication cables?". BBC. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  5. ^ Sciutto, Jim (6 September 2024). "Exclusive: US sees increasing risk of Russian 'sabotage' of key undersea cables by secretive military unit". CNN. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b Сурков, Николай (Surkov, Nikolay); Рамм, Алексей (Ramm, Alexey); Дмитриев, Евгений (Dmitriev, Evgeniy) (10 April 2018). "Глубоководные войска: В Арктике развернули глубоководную дивизию, которая будет решать не только военные, но и гражданские задачи" [Deep Sea Troops: A deep-sea division has been deployed in the Arctic, which will solve not only military but also civilian tasks]. Izvestia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Бондаренк, Егор (Bondarenko, Yegor) (20 March 2021). "Назначен новый начальник самой секретной структуры ВМФ" [A new head of the most secret structure of the Navy has been appointed]. «Контингент» (in Russian). Retrieved 21 November 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b "Северный флот" [Northern Fleet]. «Коммерсантъ» (in Russian). 25 February 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  9. ^ Lobner, Peter (21 May 2018). "You Need to Know About Russia's Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI)". lynceans.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  10. ^ Abramowicz, Victor (21 June 2018). "Moscow's Other Navy: With equipment that appears almost James Bond–esque, Russia's deep-sea fleet is potential hidden menace". www.lowyinstitute.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  11. ^ Khan (13 April 2018). "Les troupes des abysses" [The Troops of the Abyss]. www.rusnavyintelligence.com (in French). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  12. ^ Nilsen, Thomas (12 January 2018). "From this secret base, Russian spy ships increase activity around global data cables: Olenya Bay on the coast of the Barents Sea is home to a fleet of nuclear powered spy submarines and surface vessels which NATO now says are dramatically stepping up activities around undersea data cables in the North Atlantic". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  13. ^ "Belgorod nuclear sub begins its first sea trials — source: The nuclear submarine is to be handed over to the ordering party in late 2021". TASS. 26 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  14. ^ "К-329, БС-329, «Белгород» проект 949А, 949АМ, 09852" [K-329, BS-329, "Belgorod" project 949A, 949AM, 09852]. «Шторм Глубины» (in Russian). July 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  15. ^ Lendon, Brad (24 July 2022). "Russian Navy's massive submarine could set the stage for 'a new Cold War' in the oceans". CNN. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  16. ^ Sciutto, Jim (10 November 2022). "US observed Russian navy preparing for possible test of nuclear-powered torpedo". CNN. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  17. ^ a b Nilsen, Thomas (18 June 2021). "Gigantic special mission submarine starts sea trials in White Sea: The nuclear-powered Belgorod (K-329) is the largest submarine built in the last 30 years". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  18. ^ Nilsen, Thomas (8 July 2022). "World's longest nuclear submarine handed over to the Russian Navy: The "Belgorod" special purpose submarine, carrier of the so-called doomsday Poseidon drones, will be in experimental operation with the Northern Fleet before later to serve in the Pacific Fleet". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  19. ^ Nilsen, Thomas (26 January 2021). "Is this Russia's new coastal base for the 'doomsday nuke' drones? Vladimir Putin's Russia is indeed seriously going to deploy a new leg to its nuclear triad, the unmanned underwater nuclear-powered Poseidon. A multi-billion storage and maintenance facility at the Kola Peninsula will be up and running by June 2022, aimed at serving at least 30 such drones". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  20. ^ Staalesen, Atle (2 March 2018). "What should be the names of Russia's new doomsday weapons? The Russian President wants you to have a look at his new deadly weapons. And propose suitable names". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  21. ^ Nilsen, Thomas (12 December 2016). "Did Russia test doomsday weapon in Arctic waters? Nuclear powered underwater drone allegedly aimed at carrying super-bad nuke weapon said to be tested on November 27th". Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  22. ^ Рамм, Алексей (Ramm, Alexey) (25 November 2016). "Россия разворачивает глобальную систему морского слежения: «Гармония» сможет обнаружить вражеские корабли, подводные лодки и самолеты в любом районе Мирового океана" [Russia Deploys Global Maritime Surveillance System: "Harmony" will be able to detect enemy ships, submarines and aircraft in any area of the world's oceans]. Izvestia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Jo Hermstad Tronsen; Kristina Kalinina; Erlend Hykkerud (2019-05-31) [2019-05-29]. "Nye satellittbilder kan avsløre hvor "Hvaldimir" kommer fra" [New satellite images may reveal where 'Hvaldimir' comes from] (in Norwegian). NRK.
  24. ^ Roth, Andrew (2 July 2019). "Fire kills 14 sailors on Russian top-secret navy submersible: Losharik deep-sea vessel was carrying out military survey in Russian waters, say officials". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
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