The Black Sea Fleet, based in Russia-annexed Crimea has been given a new commander, the Russian news agency RIA reported, citing sources, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were hit over the past nine days.
If the change is confirmed, the removal of former commander Igor Osipov will mark the most significant dismissal of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which it has suffered heavy losses of men and equipment.
The state-run RIA news agency, citing its own sources, said the new commander, Viktor Sokolov, was presented to members of the fleet's military council at the port of Sevastopol.
One source said it was "normal" that the appointment was not publicly announced while Russia is conducting what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.
The Black Sea Fleet, which has a respectable history in Russia, has suffered several public humiliations during the war launched by President Vladimir Putin on February 24.
In April, Ukraine hit the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, "Maskva", with Neptune missiles, causing it to catch fire and sink.
Last week at the Shaki air base in southwestern Crimea, located near the fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, there were a series of explosions that destroyed eight warplanes, according to satellite photos.
Subsequently, explosions rocked an ammunition depot at a military base in the northern part of the peninsula yesterday, Tuesday. Russia called it an act of sabotage and Ukraine implied that it bears responsibility for the strike.
Today the Russian security service FSB said it had arrested six members of what it called an Islamist terrorist cell in Crimea, although it did not say whether they were suspected of involvement in the explosions.
The Black Sea Fleet is far larger than Ukraine's navy and is a source of national pride dating back to its founding under Empress Catherine the Great in 1783.
Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and has since been extensively fortified, provides the main supply route for Russian invasion forces that have occupied southern Ukraine, where Kiev is planning a counteroffensive in the coming weeks.
The flotilla has blockaded Ukraine's ports since the war began in February, trapping vital grain exports, which are only now beginning to resume under a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.
The fact that Ukraine is apparently able to carry out devastating attacks on what Moscow considered a safe stronghold served as a moral advantage for Kiev.
The 49-year-old former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Igor Osipov, had been in charge since May 2019, according to his official resume posted on the Defense Ministry's website.
His replacement, 60-year-old Viktor Sokolov, has extensive experience in commanding minesweepers and units in the 1980s and 1990s, and subsequently held senior posts in the Pacific Fleet and the North Sea Fleet, where he served as deputy commander. Since 2020, he has been head of a prestigious military academy.
Source: APE-MPA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
