Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been “sacked” after the fleet suffered another loss on Wednesday, local Telegram channels reported.
The Rybar Telegram channel, which has links to Russia’s defense ministry, said Thursday that there are now “changes in the Black Sea Fleet,” after Ukraine’s forces destroyed Russia’s Caesar Kunikov landing ship this week.
Russian “military correspondents” report that head of the Russian Black Sea Fleet might have lost his position after the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed Caesar Kunikov large landing ship.
According to some “Z-channels,” the duties of commander of the Black Sea Fleet are… https://t.co/E9ggIarXwj pic.twitter.com/2QfNwrqgnf
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 15, 2024
“According to preliminary information, Commander Sokolov was sacked, and instead the duties of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet are being performed by the Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet,” the channel said.
The Black Sea Fleet’s website states that Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk, former commander of the Caspian Flotilla, holds the chief of staff position, independent Russian news outlet the Moscow Times reported.
The claims were reported by a number of other Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers and channels.
Newsweek couldn’t independently verify the reports and has contacted Russia’s defense ministry for comment by email.
The changes come a day after Ukraine said its forces destroyed Russia’s Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov using naval drones. Ukraine’s intelligence service released a video purportedly showing the moment its forces struck the vessel with MAGURA V5 sea drones off the annexed Crimean Peninsula, near the city of Alupka.
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images
Ukraine said the Caesar Kunikov began to sink after sustaining damage on its left side.
The Russian defense ministry hasn’t commented on the attack or on the fate of those on board. While it isn’t clear how many people were on board at the time of the attack, publicly available data states the ship had 87 crew members.
Ukraine has targeted Russia’s Black Sea Fleet throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the country, which began in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged to reverse Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The Caesar Kunikov was the fifth large landing ship to have been struck by Ukraine throughout the war.
By February 6, Kyiv’s forces had “disabled” about 33 percent of the Back Sea Fleet’s warships, including 24 Russian ships and one submarine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said.
In April 2022, Ukraine attacked and sunk the fleet’s flagship, Moskva. In September 2023, a missile attack by Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol reportedly killed several leading officers and destroyed a Russian submarine. At least 37 Russian sailors were reportedly killed when Kyiv destroyed the landing ship Novocherkassk in December.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian naval drones destroyed Russia’s missile-armed corvette Ivanovets near Crimea in a nighttime operation. Ukraine said its forces carried out that attack using MAGURA V5 sea drones.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.