# Russian Training Ship Perekop Docks in Lagos on Africa Voyage

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2026/11/russian-training-ship-perekop-docks-in-lagos/
- Published: 2026-11-09T09:29:10+01:00
- Author: Military Africa

The Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet training ship _Perekop_ has docked in Lagos, Nigeria,
as part of a long-distance training and cooperation voyage, the fleet’s press service
announced on Saturday, 7 November 2026. The Smolnyy-class vessel reached the Nigerian
port after a short passage from Douala in Cameroon, and the call extends a West 
and Southern African leg that Military Africa followed when the ship [called at Walvis Bay](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/russian-training-ship-perekop-calls-at-walvis-bay-on-four-ocean-voyage/)
in Namibia in October.

Russia’s Chargé d’Affaires in Nigeria, Igor Ivannikov, and the Russian military 
attaché attended a welcoming ceremony at the port, together with representatives
of the [Nigerian Navy](https://www.military.africa/tag/nigeria-navy/) command, according
to the Baltic Fleet statement carried by [Interfax](https://www.interfax.ru/world/1127563)
and TASS. At the close of the ceremony, the expedition commander, Rear Admiral Vyacheslav
Sytnik, signed the ship’s book of honoured visitors.

![Russian sailors in white uniform line the deck of the training ship Perekop during
a welcoming ceremony in Lagos](https://www.military.africa/wp-content/uploads/2026/
11/perekop-lagos-welcome-ceremony-on-board.webp)

Russian sailors line the deck of _Perekop_ for the welcoming ceremony in Lagos. (
Image: Nigerian Navy via The Spye News) [Image enhanced]

## Talks at Western Naval Command

Sytnik and Ivannikov then met Rear Admiral Abubakar Abdullahi Mustapha, Flag Officer
Commanding (FOC) of the Nigerian Navy’s Western Naval Command (WNC), at the command’s
headquarters in Apapa, Lagos, to discuss bilateral naval cooperation. Mustapha received
the Russian delegation on behalf of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi
Abbas, [The Spye News reported](https://www.spyetv.com.ng/2026/11/nigerian-navy-hosts-russian-naval.html).
He is the [46th officer to lead the command](https://navy.mil.ng/western-naval-command),
having taken over from Rear Admiral Mike Oamen in November 2025, according to [ThisDay](https://www.thisdaylive.com/2025/11/06/rear-admiral-mustapha-assumes-command-of-western-naval-command-vows-intelligence-technology-driven-operations).

Mustapha told the visitors that port calls of this kind deepen professional contact
between navies, allow them to exchange operational experience and strengthen relations
between the Nigerian and Russian navies. He added that visits by foreign training
ships give young Nigerian naval officers practical exposure to international training
methods. Sytnik thanked the Nigerian Navy for its reception and said the Russian
side wished to explore joint training activities with Nigerian personnel while _Perekop_
remains in Lagos. The talks covered naval training, professional development and
maritime security.

## Damage Control, Football and Shore Visits

The programme for the Lagos stop mirrors those of the voyage’s earlier African calls.
Nigerian Navy personnel are touring the ship and watching demonstration exercises
in damage control and ship survivability, the drills that train a crew to contain
fire, flooding and hull damage and keep a stricken vessel afloat and fighting. A
friendly football match between Russian and Nigerian sailors is also on the programme,
alongside sightseeing for the crew and cadets and official exchanges ashore.

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The same format was used further south. In Pointe-Noire, the crew ran damage-control
and first-aid demonstrations for Republic of the Congo Navy personnel, [TASS reported](https://tass.com/politics/2210089).
In Douala, the ship’s command held talks with Cameroonian military and civil officials,
and cadets played football and volleyball against Cameroonian sailors, according
to the Russian Ministry of Defence. As it left Douala, the crew practised joint 
manoeuvres with the Cameroonian patrol boat P-108, [TASS reported](https://news.rambler.ru/army/57365897-rossiyskiy-perekop-pokinul-kamerun/)
on 6 November. Cameroon is itself expanding its small-boat fleet and is due to receive
a [Metal Shark 38 Defiant patrol boat](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/cameroon-to-receive-metal-shark-38-defiant-patrol-boat/)
from the United States.

## Russian and African Cadets on Board

Cadets from the Admiral F.F. Ushakov Baltic Naval Institute in Kaliningrad are completing
navigation training on board, alongside servicemen from Namibia and the Republic
of the Congo who are studying naval science in Russia, the Baltic Fleet said on 
arrival in Lagos. Four Namibian cadets joined at Walvis Bay, and twelve Congolese
cadets boarded at Pointe-Noire, according to TASS. The Ministry of Defence also 
said several Cameroonian cadets would stay aboard after Douala to continue their
navigation practice. Earlier in the voyage, 13 Tanzanian cadets who train in Russia
completed their shipboard practice and left the ship at Dar es Salaam.

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Cadets on _Perekop_ stand watch as officers of the watch and their deputies, plot
courses with navigation instruments and practise passages through straits and narrow
channels. The ship carries dedicated classrooms, an astronomical observation deck
for celestial navigation, a damage-control training compartment and six-oared boats
for seamanship drills.

![Russian delegation from training ship Perekop poses with Nigerian Navy officers
at Western Naval Command, Apapa](https://www.military.africa/wp-content/uploads/
2026/11/perekop-delegation-nigerian-navy-officers-apapa.webp)

Members of the _Perekop_ delegation and Russian diplomatic staff with Nigerian Navy
officers at Western Naval Command, Apapa. (Image: Nigerian Navy via The Spye News)[
Image enhanced]

## A 49-Year-Old Ship on a Four-Ocean Route

_Perekop_ (pennant number 310) is the second of the Project 887 Smolnyy-class training
ships built for the Soviet Navy at the Szczecin shipyard in Poland. It was launched
on 11 December 1976 and entered service in 1977. The ship displaces about 7,270 
tonnes at full load and measures 138 metres in length, with a beam of 17 metres 
and a draught of 5.5 metres, according to the [Russian Ministry of Defence](https://portnews.ru/news/399142/).
It reaches 20 knots and has a range of about 9,000 nautical miles at 14 knots. Besides
its own crew, it can carry around 30 instructors and up to 300 cadets.

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The ship keeps the armament of a 1970s Soviet escort: two twin 76mm gun mounts, 
two twin 30mm anti-aircraft guns and an RBU-2500 anti-submarine rocket launcher,
backed by air search radar and a hull-mounted sonar. Its sister ship _Smolny_ made
similar African tours in 2024 and 2025, including calls at [Cape Town](https://www.military.africa/2024/09/russian-navy-training-ship-smolny-visits-south-africa/),
a [return to South Africa](https://www.military.africa/2025/08/russian-navy-training-vessel-smolny-returns-to-south-africa/)
and [Dar es Salaam](https://www.military.africa/2025/08/russian-training-ship-smolny-docks-in-dar-es-salaam/).

The current expedition began in early July and is due to last until mid-December.
The route of about 30,000 nautical miles runs along Russia’s Northern Sea Route 
and through four oceans, 14 seas, 23 straits and nine bays, [according to the Russian Ministry of Defence](https://news.mail.ru/politics/72978200/).
In Africa, _Perekop_ has already called at Victoria in Seychelles, Dar es Salaam
in Tanzania, Maputo in Mozambique, Walvis Bay, Pointe-Noire and Douala before Lagos.
The Baltic Fleet said in September that cadets from Guinea were also expected to
board during the voyage, which points to at least one further West African call,
although no port has been announced.

## Lagos and the Competition for Gulf of Guinea Partners

Lagos is a regular stop for foreign navies seeking ties with Nigeria, whose fleet
is one of the largest in Africa and whose waters sit at the centre of [Gulf of Guinea](https://www.military.africa/tag/gulf-of-guinea/)
maritime security. A Chinese task group led by the destroyer _Nanning_ [berthed in Lagos](https://www.military.africa/2023/07/chinese-navy-flotilla-visits-nigeria/)
in July 2023, and the Portuguese Navy opened the [Coastal Grip II](https://www.military.africa/2026/09/nigeria-navy-and-portugal-navy-launch-coastal-grip-ii/)
exercise with the Nigerian Navy at NNS Beecroft in Apapa in September 2026. Weeks
before _Perekop_ arrived, Lagos also hosted the first [Africa International Defence Exhibition (AFRIDEX)](https://www.military.africa/2026/10/afridex-2026-opens-in-lagos-as-nigeria-courts-africas-defence-market/)
at Eko Atlantic, the waterfront where the Nigerian Navy staged its 70th anniversary
International Fleet Review in June.

_Perekop_ is the first Russian naval port call in Lagos recorded by Military Africa.
It comes as Moscow widens its military contacts across the continent, from African
defence officials attending the [Center-2026 exercise](https://www.military.africa/2026/10/african-defence-officials-attend-russias-center-2026-military-exercise-in-the-urals/)
in the Urals to [military-technical cooperation](https://www.military.africa/2023/05/strengthening-ties-exploring-military-technical-cooperation-between-russia-and-african-countries/)
agreements with several states, including the one Nigeria signed with Russia in 
August 2021. Nigeria’s naval training and procurement ties, however, lean mainly
towards Western, Asian and Turkish partners, and Türkiye has become a rising supplier
to West Africa, as [SIPRI data shows](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/why-west-africas-arms-imports-are-rising-as-africas-fall/).

## From Apapa Handshakes to Joint Training

The more lasting test of the visit lies in Sytnik’s offer of joint training. Namibia,
the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Tanzania already send officer candidates
to Russian naval schools, and their cadets have used _Perekop_ as a floating classroom
on this voyage. Nigeria has no cadets aboard, and neither navy has announced a training
agreement or a follow-on exercise. Whether the damage-control demonstrations and
football in Apapa lead to Nigerian cadets joining a future Russian training cruise,
or remain a courtesy call on a crowded diplomatic calendar, will show how far Abuja
intends to broaden its naval partnerships beyond its established partners.

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