After Ukrainian attacks, Russia fires top naval commander
The Kremlin has fired its top naval commander in the biggest fallout yet from a series of devastating attacks by Ukraine on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, a Ukrainian and a Western official said.
Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, head of the Russian Navy for the past five years, was relieved of his command and replaced by the head of Russia’s Northern Fleet.
Russian publications reported on Sunday, based on anonymous sources, that Admiral Yevmenov had been fired. The Financial Times quotes Ukrainian officials: reported the development on Monday. However, the Russian government has refused to confirm the personnel changes.
U.S. officials have concluded that while Kiev’s counteroffensive last year in eastern and southern Ukraine largely failed, its attacks on the Crimean Peninsula and attacks on the Black Sea Fleet were unexpectedly effective.
The victories are all the more surprising because Ukraine does not have a traditional navy or fleet of warships. Instead, Ukraine has used naval drones and missiles to attack Russian ships.
U.S. officials believe Ukraine has sunk 15 Russian ships in the past six months. European officials have said the naval victories have reopened the western Black Sea, allowing Ukraine to once again ship grain from Odesa.
A Ukrainian military intelligence official said the removal of Admiral Yevmenov from command was directly related to the loss of Russian ships.
Ukraine estimates that a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which once numbered 80 ships, has been destroyed since the war began two years ago. The sinking of the Moskva, Russia’s flagship, in April 2022 with a Ukrainian-built missile was one of Kiev’s great symbolic victories.
But the more recent campaign has been just as important for practical gains. As a result of the attacks, Russia has withdrawn its fleet from the Ukrainian coast and the western Black Sea.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian army had “effectively won the war for control of the western half of the Black Sea.”
“And Ukrainian grain is now flowing again through the Bosphorus to Africa and China, which are Ukraine’s traditional markets,” Mr. Sikorski told reporters in Washington at a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor.
At a Senate hearing on Monday, CIA Director William J. Burns said Ukraine could carry out more attacks against Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet if the United States provided additional military assistance.
“Ukraine can continue to exact costs against Russia, not only with deep penetration attacks on Crimea, but also against its Black Sea Fleet, and can continue this success, which has resulted in the sinking of fifteen Russian ships over the course of the past six months.” Mr. Burns, who wrote in an article this year that Ukraine should redouble such tactics.
Ukrainian military analysts said the decision to replace the top naval commander made sense as Russian efforts to defend its fleet from attack have failed.
“What have the Russians done to increase the effectiveness of countering our attacks?” Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst, told Ukrainian news media. “Nothing. They currently have no effective solution to increase the security of their warships. The only viable solution they could implement was flights from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk.”
Russian publications have reported that Admiral Yevmenov will be replaced by the head of the Russian Northern Fleet, Admiral Aleksandr A. Moiseyev. However, Admiral Yevmenov is still listed as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy on the Russian Army’s official website.
“There are decrees that are classified as secret,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov told reporters on Monday. “I can’t comment on them. No public decrees have been published on this matter.”
Instead, the Russian military has made statements about naval operations, including a statement on Tuesday about Russian naval vessels taking part in joint exercises with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman.
It is not the first time that questions about the leadership of the Russian Navy have gone unanswered in public.
In February, Russian Telegram channels that track the country’s military reported that the top officer of the Black Sea Fleet had been removed, but he is still listed as the fleet’s commander on the Russian military’s website.
Last year, Ukrainian authorities claimed to have killed the same commander, but Russia quickly distributed images of him giving an interview to prove he was alive.