Russia confirms naval chief replaced after Black Sea failures

(CNN) — Russian state media confirmed on Tuesday that the Kremlin replaced the head of the country’s navy following a string of successful Ukrainian attacks on its Black Sea fleet.

Adm. Alexander Moiseyev was for the first time officially introduced as acting commander in chief of the Russian Navy during celebrations marking Submariner Day in Kronshtadt, a town and a naval base on Kotlin Island, just west of St. Petersburg, according to state news agency TASS.

Born on April 16, 1962 in Borskoye, Kaliningrad region, Moiseyev had served “for many years in nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet from combat element group engineer to missile submarine commander, submarine force commander and submarine forces commander,” according to his Russian Defense Ministry biography.

In 2011, Moiseyev was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for courage and heroism shown in the line of duty, according to the Defense Ministry. He has also been awarded two orders of courage and a number of other awards and medals, according to the ministry.

Moiseyev replaces Adm. Nikolay Yevmenov, according to TASS, whose future had been the subject of speculation for weeks due to Russia’s repeated losses in the Black Sea.

While the situation on the frontlines of the ground fighting between Russia and Ukraine has been static for months, save for a few Russian victories, the successes in the Black Sea have been a bright spot for the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine claimed last month that it had disabled a third of the Russian Black Sea fleet in attacks which have most involved underwater drones. The salvos are aimed at isolating the Crimean Peninsula to make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations there and on the Ukrainian mainland. Moscow seized Crimea 10 years ago in violation of international law, so the attacks there carry symbolic significance as well as strategic value.

Pushing back Russia’s fleet has also allowed Kyiv to open a maritime corridor to export of grain and other commodities to the global market.

But those losses have prompted the Kremlin to redouble its efforts to fortify the Black Sea Fleet. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu effectively admitted that Ukraine had taken advantage of vulnerabilities in the Black Sea Fleet during a visit to its command post. According to a statement from the ministry, Shoigu ordered the Russian navy to add more firepower to war ships to counter Ukrainian drones and train personnel “during the day and at night.”

It’s unclear when exactly Moiseyev was appointed to replace Yevmenov. The palace intrigue inside Russia’s military is, like much of the country’s authoritarian politics, notoriously opaque.

Tuesday’s report in Russian state media was the first time Moiseyev was identified with his new title. The report did not mention whether Yevmenov had been dismissed or reassigned.

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