Having published a book on China Surface Warships, I decided to take a look at the number of active ships in the Russian Navy and their condition.  I was able to pull together a lot of information. Not really sure how accurate it is, but it’s as accurate as I could find.  Whenever possible, I checked multiple sources and, of course, there are instances with slight variation, but by and large, most of it has been corroborated at multiple sources.  The ships are shown by category (battlecruisers, frigates, destroyers, etc.), but the table of contents also lists them by hull number.  I included lists of additional ships that also have been ordered, are already under construction or are now undergoing sea trials.  I decided the breakoff point for the book would be ships larger than 800 tons.  There are simply too many under that size to include them all.  The information in this book is merely a snapshot in time.  Warships are complex instruments that require a great deal of maintenance.  Warships are also constantly being upgraded.  New weapons and electronics are installed on a regular basis.  We will reprint this book next year as new information comes available.  If you find something that needs to be corrected or updated, please let us know at USGOVPUB.COM. 

This book was classified Secret in 1968 by the Soviet Union and was only recently published (in Russian) in the West. This is our translation of that book. We have no way of knowing whether this is in fact a training manual from that time or an example of KGB disinformation. Either way, it makes for some interesting reading, and many of the concepts applied here are still in evidence today.

The book is basically a training manual that describes the way the KGB undermined Russian émigré organizations and recruited agents from among the 12 million émigré Russians living outside the territory of the Soviet Motherland.

ОСНОВНЫЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ И ОБЪЕКТЫ РАЗВЕДЫВАТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ ЗА ГРАНИЦЕЙ was classified Top Secret in 1970 by the Soviet Union and was only recently published (in Russian) in the West. This is our translation of that book. We wanted to make it available to those interested in the subject as quickly as possible. Here is an example:

“……. Intelligence agencies need to collect materials characterizing the strength of the position of politics (of the target capitalist country) and the construction of social and economic forces on which it relies; ……………..

……. Information about the backstage activities of bourgeois parties and also to what extent this or that party is a conductor of foreign influence in the country, is of great importance to the Socialist states. Intelligence agencies of the socialist states should also receive information about political groups in the country, which can be relied on by the countries of the socialist commonwealth when carrying out their own political activities. …………

……. Information on members of the Government and prominent political figures should also be obtained in order to determine how they feel about policies or the possibility of an agent-based approach to compromise (if necessary). …….”

Spetsnaz is one of those books you can’t put down till you have read the entire thing.  Written by the Department of Defense (actually the Marine Corps), it gives unique insight into how the Russians train and fight. The examples in the book where Spetsnaz carried out actual clandestine operations is amazing.  Looking at what they were doing back in the 1990’s, it’s no wonder folks are concerned.