On April 2, the aggressor’s propaganda broadcasts the “official statement” of Sergei Shoigu on the appointment of Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk as commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and Konstantin Kabantsev as commander of the Russian Northern Fleet. and Admiral Alexander Moiseev as the commander-in-chief of the aggressor’s Naval Forces.
There is nothing intriguing in these appointments; there has been writing about the career progress of Kabantsev and Moiseev since the beginning of March, and on March 17, Pinchuk “came to light” as the de facto leader of the Black Sea Fleet during the same Shoigu’s criminal visit to the occupied Sevastopol.
Before the new regalia, Pinchuk had been successively chief of staff since 2021 and, accordingly, deputy to all aggressor’s Black Sea fleet’s commanders since 2022, and before that he commanded the Russian Caspian Flotilla.
The aggressor’s “Crimean” propaganda focuses on the fact that “Pinchuk is from Sevastopol” and that sanctions have been imposed against him by the European Union and Canada.
Pinchuk graduated from the Sevastopol Black Sea Higher Naval School and “began his officer service in 1993 as commander of the anti-aircraft missile battery BCh-2 of the destroyer “Nastoichivy”, where he rose to the rank of ship commander.”
“Nastoychivy” was the flagship of the Baltic Fleet and for a long time served as an “exemplary” ship, visiting European ports many times.
Until 2011, Pinchuk made a career in formations of surface ships of the Baltic Fleet, and then was transferred to the Caspian Sea.
It is obvious that, as chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, Pinchuk was responsible for both developing the strategy and tactics of Russia’s large-scale naval aggression from 2022, and for those war crimes for which the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against his former boss Sokolov.
Therefore, it is quite difficult to imagine a radical change in the tactics of the Black Sea Fleet under a new commander.
