Russian President Vladimir Putin this week began a wide-ranging cleanup, starting with a fundamental change in naval leadership, as the Russian government looks ahead to the start of a third year of its invasion of Ukraine.
“Admiral Viktor Sokolov has finally been removed from the position of commander of the Black Sea Fleet,” Telegram channel Military Intelligence wrote earlier this week. “It seems we can no longer ignore recent heavy losses in our fleet.”
According to pro-Kremlin military analyst Sergei Markov, Putin has replaced Sokolov with his deputy, Lieutenant General Sergei Pinchuk, while searching for a long-term replacement.
“The commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been replaced,” Markov wrote in a cable. “This decision received great understanding and approval in Russia.”
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Sokolov had already survived one scare when Ukraine claimed he was among about 30 officers killed in the early stages of the Black Sea counteroffensive that eventually drove Russian forces out of Western waters. was. Now, reports say he has only been suspended.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was arrested at the AO Konar factory in Chelyabinsk, Russia, minutes after spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been informed about the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Friday. He grimaced during a meeting with someone. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Another reporter said that in recent months under Sokolov’s rule, the fleet had been “destroyed” with too many ships, including the destruction of the approximately $70 million missile ship “Ivanovets” in early February. It was pointed out that it was included.
Mr. Markov had complained that the loss of the Black Sea Fleet would effectively jeopardize Russia’s plans to seize Odessa, Ukraine’s important port city and main grain export hub.
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Sokolov himself took over from a previous unsuccessful naval commander who lost the state-of-the-art cruiser Moskva in a Neptune missile attack from Ukraine in 2022.
On January 15, the Turkish Naval Command conducted exercise “Deniz Kurdu-1 2024” in Mugla, Turkey, simultaneously in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea. (Yavuz Ozden/dia Image via Getty Images)
Putin also had to replace the head of the Defense Ministry several times near the end of the first year of the invasion, as he was unable to achieve the necessary results against what many considered an inferior force.
The losses of the Black Sea Fleet turned out to be even more devastating due to the severity of losses in such a short period of time. Ukraine launched a counterattack after Russia allowed the U.N.-backed grain deal to collapse and attacked grain facilities on Ukraine’s coast.
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Ukraine claimed to have sunk 25 of the approximately 80 ships deployed at the start of the invasion and that another 15 were under repair.
In this Feb. 20, 2021 file photo, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a cage at Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlyanichenko, File)
The leadership change came just days before Putin’s biggest domestic rival, Alexei Nalvany, was found unconscious and dead, according to the Associated Press. Russia’s Federal Prison Service said an ambulance arrived to try to resuscitate Navalny, but they were unable to do so.
“There is no confirmation yet,” Navalny’s spokesperson said in a post on X on Friday. “Alexei’s lawyer is currently on his way to Harb in northern Russia.”
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Navalny was being held in the IK-3 penal colony in Harp, also known as “Polar Wolf,” which is considered one of the country’s toughest prisons.
Navalny has previously organized anti-government demonstrations and even ran for office on the basis of reforms to what he claims are Russian corruption. He was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2020 and was poisoned by Novichok, a suspected nerve agent.
