Russia tightlipped on reports Navy commander sunk by Black Sea losses
Al Jazeera
Kremlin refuses comment on report it replaced navy commander after losing warships to Ukrainian attacks in Black Sea.
The Kremlin has declined to comment on reports that the commander-in-chief of the Russian navy has been sacked.
A spokesperson in Moscow said on Monday that “no public decrees” have been made on the fate of Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov. Reports over the weekend asserted that he had been replaced following the loss of a string of warships to Ukrainian attacks in the Black Sea.
Several news outlets, including the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper, claimed that Yevmenov, 61, had been replaced by Northern Fleet commander Alexander Moiseyev. Any such appointment would typically be announced by presidential decree.
“There are decrees labelled secret, I cannot comment on them. There were no public decrees on this matter,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
If confirmed, the removal of Yevmenov – who was appointed head of the navy in May 2019 – would be the biggest shake-up in Russia’s military top brass since the sacking of aerospace force chief Sergei Surovikin last year.
