Russia moves to replace Black Sea Fleet chief after defense failures
Photo: Several candidates for replacement are being discussed behind the scenes (Getty Images)
The Russian Armed Forces command is preparing to replace the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The reason is failures in defense and low effectiveness in countering Ukrainian drones, according to the ATESH partisan movement.
"There are rumors among officers that the Russian military leadership is considering replacing the current commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Sergei Pinchuk. The reason is systemic failures in ensuring the security of bases and ships, as well as the extremely low effectiveness of measures to counter Ukrainian unmanned boats," the agency says.
Agents of ATESH from the fleet headquarters say that several candidates for replacement are being discussed behind the scenes. Most likely, the first deputy, Vice Admiral Akhmerov, may be appointed.
The partisan movement also emphasizes that they are personally involved in the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities.
"Since 2022, we have been systematically reconnoitering ships, repair facilities, military units, and naval bases of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea and Novorossiysk. Our information helps the Ukrainian Defense Forces to destroy this fleet," ATESH explains.
According to the partisans, a series of losses on the Russian side demonstrated a complete lack of organized protection of the water area and key infrastructure. Despite Russia's official reports of control of the situation, in reality, threats from marine drones continue to be successfully carried out.
"In the last six months alone, there have been at least eight successful attacks by Ukrainian unmanned boats on Black Sea Fleet facilities, including Sevastopol and bases in Crimea. In several cases, detection systems failed to work at all, and the forces on duty responded with a delay of 20-40 minutes, which led to damage to ships and infrastructure. These facts are reflected in internal reports, after which the issue of changing the command was raised to a higher level," the movement summarizes.
Russian Black Sea Fleet and beyond
Recently, ATESH partisans attacked one of the key command facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Novorossiysk, the 37th separate special communications node (military unit 09920), which ensures the transmission of the most important commands from Moscow and the coordination of the fleet's actions with other branches of the armed forces. This facility effectively serves as the central command system of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Incidentally, the Second Western District Military Court, located in the Russian capital, recently acknowledged for the first time that the Ukrainian military destroyed the cruiser Moskva.
A few weeks ago, we also wrote that, according to Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk, the Russians are minimizing their ships' sorties into the Sea of Azov because navigation routes are limited and there is a high risk of being destroyed.
