The Russian media, in particular the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, reported over the weekend that the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Mykola Yevmenov, was replaced by the Commander of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseyev, writes The Moscow Times.
Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Perskov declined to comment on Russian media reports that the commander-in-chief of Russia’s navy was fired after Moscow lost several warships to Ukrainian attacks in the Black Sea, Reuters reported.
A possible reshuffle would be announced by presidential decree, notes The Moscow Times.
“There are secret decrees, I cannot comment on them. There were no public decrees on this matter,” Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov told reporters.
Mykola Yevmenov, 61, was appointed head of the Navy in May 2019.
If confirmed, his removal would be the biggest shake-up in Russia’s military leadership since the dismissal of the head of the aerospace service, Sergei Surovykin, last year.
How many Russian ships were destroyed by the Ukrainians in the Black Sea
During the two years of the large-scale conflict, Ukraine recorded several successes against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, allowing the sea corridor to be reopened for the export of Ukrainian grain, despite threats of bombing from Russia, AFP notes.
In early February, the Ukrainian military announced that about a third of Russian warships had been “disabled” in the area.
Ukrainian forces say they destroyed 26 Russian vessels last week, including a military patrol ship, since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The strikes are an embarrassment for Russia, which has been forced to move ships from its naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea, a peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014, to the port of Novorossiysk further east.
Russia’s failures in the Black Sea stand in stark contrast to its land offensive in eastern Ukraine, where its forces have advanced in recent months after more than a year of fighting.
In just one month, Ukraine destroyed 3 ships of the Black Sea Fleet. The last “victim” of the Ukrainians would be a patrol ship.
Last week, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (GUR) released a video showing how it attacked the Russian patrol ship “Sergiy Kotov” in the Black Sea near Crimea with drones.
Source: Hot News
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