Putin sacks admiral who lost Black Sea flagship and warplanes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired the commander of his Crimea-based naval fleet, following a series of attacks on bases and four months after Ukraine sank its flagship.

President Vladimir Putin has sacked the commander of the Black Sea fleet after the destruction of several warplanes in a series explosions at a naval air base in Crimea, according to the state news agency in Moscow.

The president has removed Admiral Igor Osipov and replaced him with Vice-Admiral Viktor Sokolov, RIA Novosti said.

The fleet said that such reports were rumours until officially confirmed. However, RIA reported that Mr Sokolov had already been presented to the fleet’s military council at its headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, and started work.

The Saki airbase following the reported attack in Novofedorivka, Crimea, Ukraine. Picture: AFP

A source told the news agency that there had been no public event to mark the appointment because the town had been on alert since a drone strike on fleet headquarters last month. Another source said that the fleet was not obliged to announce appointments at a time of military engagement.

At least eight Russian aircraft were destroyed in explosions on August 9 at the Saki air base in Crimea. The base is home to the Black Sea Fleet’s 43rd Independent Naval Attack Aviation Regiment, which flies Su-24 Fencer and Su-30 Flanker warplanes. Russia blamed Ukrainian sabotage.

“The fleet’s naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded,” the UK’s Ministry of Defence concluded after the blasts.

Reports of Mr Osipov’s sacking appeared within three days. He had commanded the fleet since May 2019, presiding over the loss of its flagship, the Moskva, sunk by a Ukrainian shore-based anti-ship missile in April. Dozens of crew are thought to have died.

Residents are evacuated from the village of Mayskoye, Crimea, following the explosion of a nearby munitions depot. Picture: AFP

After news broke of the warship’s sinking, Mr Osipov disappeared from public view for several weeks. He was absent from Victory Day celebrations on May 9, and Black Sea Fleet Day on May 13, at which the commander is customarily present.

The UK MoD claimed at the time that Mr Osipov had “likely been suspended”. He reappeared in public on June 19.

Before his appointment to the Black Sea fleet, Mr Osipov, 49, served in the Pacific Fleet and then as commander of the Caspian Flotilla. He was in charge of the flotilla in 2015 when its ships were used for the first launch of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, fired from the Caspian Sea at targets in Syria.

There was no information on whether Mr Osipov had been given a new role.

Mr Sokolov, 60, previously served in the Pacific and Northern fleets. Since 2020 he had worked at the Russian navy’s main staff college in St Petersburg.

– The Times