vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #146 / Special reports / Reading article...

The Russian Navy recently appointed a former submarine captain to command the Pacific Fleet, making him the fifth admiral to hold the job in six years.

Navy Commander Felix Gromov appointed the fleet’s staff chief, Vice Admiral Mikhail Zakharenko, to replace Vladimir Kuroyedov, who was promoted to chief of staff of the Russian Navy in Moscow. Gromov introduced Zakharenko to fleet officials July 21.

Zakharenko’s promotion came amid press reports in the Russian daily Vladivostok and elsewhere of a shake-up in the Pacific Fleet – reports the fleet vehemently denies. The Vladivostok reported that the fleet’s personnel would be cut in half, and the fleet itself will be split into two units; one based in Primorye, the other in Kamchatka.

Quoting fleet sources, the paper also said 30,000 officers would be laid off, and the Russian Navy would number 100,000 personnel: 30,000 each at the Pacific and Northern fleets, and another 40,000 to be split among Baltic and Black Sea fleets, Caspian squadron and the Navy main staff in Moscow.

But Pacific Fleet officials dismissed the reports.

“It’s all rubbish,” said fleet spokesman Valery Gorshkov. “Don’t make your judgment on the Vladivostok article. … The fleet will stay one fleet.”

In a July 23 press conference, Gromov said the fleet won’t be divided, but units will be based in Kamchatka and Vladivostok. In the past five years, the fleet has declined by 200,000 sailors, to 227,000, he said. The navy cut ineffective units, Gromov said.

Former commander Igor Khmelnov was appointed to a top-ranking position in Moscow, only to resign in disgrace amid a scandal involving Pacific Fleet housing funds.

Before holding his current office, Zakharenko commanded a Kamchatka submarine squadron and a nuclear submarine. Officers said they were pleased that a combat, not staff, officer will run the fleet.