Author: Cui Yan (Deputy Director of the Russian Center of Womin High-Ko Ward Research Institute)
According to CCTV News, Russian Ministry of Defense issued an announcement on October 8 stating that General Surovijin will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Russian special military operations. There is news from that Putin personally called Surovijin this time.
The Russian army recently performed softly on the Ukrainian battlefield, which seemed to have made Putin lose patience. Therefore, yesterday's media military news about Russia was Putin's replacement for the last battle, because Putin felt that only "ruthless character" like Surovikin could achieve results on the battlefield and turn the situation around in one fell swoop.
And almost at the same time, on October 7, Russian Navy Commander Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov held a ceremony at the Black Sea Fleet Commander to award the military flag to the new fleet commander Lieutenant General Viktor Sokolov. The Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Directors of the Fleet Command attended the ceremony.
media said that the Russian army ushered in major military adjustments, and multiple "harsh characters" appeared one after another, which shows that Putin is no longer patient.
Who is the new commander?
Sokolov⸱Victor⸱Nikolayevich was born on April 4, 1962 in Binjeri, Republic of Moldova. Sokolov graduated from Furongzhi Higher Naval School, Naval Senior Professional Officer Training Class, Kuznetsov Naval Academy, and Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Armed Forces. From 1985 to 2012, Sokolov served in the Pacific Fleet ; from 2012 to 2020, he served in the NTF. Starting from 2020, Sokolov has served as director of the Military Teaching-Scientific Research Center of Kuznetsov's Soviet Marshal Naval Academy.
In September 2022, Sokolov was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet by President Putin. Sokolov has won the fourth-level medal of "Serving for the Motherland" with a sword, the Nashimov medal, the "Military Service" medal, the "Nashimov" medal, and other department medals.
has a fleet of outstanding strength!
Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet was founded in 1785 Katerina II period. At that time, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet and the Far East Okhotsk Fleet formed the Tsarist Russian Navy, ranking third in the world's navy at that time. In more than 200 years of history, the Black Sea Fleet has participated in the Crimean War and World War I . During the Patriotic War, he participated in the Sevastopol and Odessa defense battle, and gradually developed into one of the four major fleets of the former Soviet Union.
During the Cold War , the strategic task of the Black Sea Fleet was to control Turkish Strait , exit Mediterranean to deal with the 6th Fleet of the US Navy; to destroy the oil routes from Europe and the maritime transportation route from the United States to Asia; to pass Gibraltar , enter the Atlantic Ocean, surround Europe from the southern wing; to support the Indian Ocean squadron.
At present, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is one of the most powerful fleets in the Black Sea waters. It has 7 large and medium-sized surface combat ships, 6 conventional submarines , 35 light patrol ships and missile boats, and 10 mine warships. There is also a naval aviation regiment, 2 marine brigades, 1 marine combat brigade, 1 air defense regiment, 1 artillery brigade and 2 shore missile regiments stationed in Crimean Peninsula , with a total force of more than 20,000 people.
The most powerful battleship in the Black Sea Fleet is the "Moscow" missile cruiser . This is a 10,000-ton battleship with strong anti-ship and air defense capabilities. Unfortunately, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet has sunk during this special military operation of the Russian army. Although the USS Moscow missile cruiser has sunk, the Black Sea Fleet also has three modern 11356 missile frigates and six 636.3 Kilo-class conventional submarines, and these Russian main battleships in the Black Sea waters have few opponents.The most important thing about
is that the Russian Black Sea Fleet has a Crimean naval base that can be called "unsinkable aircraft carrier ". The aviation and shore-based anti-ship missiles deployed here can completely cover the entire Black Sea area, thus providing strong sea and air support and cover for the Russian naval fleet. Overall, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is still the most powerful maritime force in the Black Sea region.
completed the combat readiness training task excellently!
In recent years, as one of the four major fleets of the Russian Navy, the Black Sea Fleet, has been able to complete combat readiness training tasks better every year. In 2019, the Black Sea Fleet's ship and the coastal defense forces completed more than 150 different types of exercises, and more than 500 command drills were held during this period.
Black Sea Fleet completed 200 artillery fire launches and missile launches in the maritime shooting range of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean waters, including the launch of "caliber" high-precision cruise missiles. The Ship Corps has trained 140 training-combat tasks, practicing to attack enemy submarines , surface ship and shore defense facilities. During this year, the fleet sailed at sea for more than 4,500 days and nights. Sailing over 237,000 nautical miles in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. The fleet made 50 visits. After entering 2020, the Black Sea Fleet has continuously improved the intensity of combat training and continued to perform tasks in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The most important task is to participate in the "Caucasus-2020" Chief Command Strategy Exercise.
Entering 2021, the Black Sea Fleet continues to carry out combat training, and surface ships and submarine crews have completed ocean navigation missions excellently, including participating in the Russian Navy's Mediterranean standing cluster execution mission. Through cross-regional navigation, the Black Sea Fleet has demonstrated its strength in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea many times.
In March 2022, the Black Sea Fleet conducted more than 200 combat command drills, including more than 20 missile launches, about 60 artillery launches, more than 30 bombings and anti-submarine launches, and also completed about 90 anti-submarine command drills. During the exercise, more than 40 ships (times) left the maritime shooting range, completing a series of difficult tasks, and practicing ship-based weapons and aviation in different ship clusters and single ship types.
At the sea shooting range, soldiers practiced and implemented systematic combat operations in different comprehensive hidden areas and cooperative areas, separating independent sections of the Black Sea. The Marine Corps practiced breaking through the enemy's defense front, using artillery to strike targets, and establishing defensive strongholds on the shore. During the exercise, small speedboat swarms were focused on practicing counterattacking enemy "swarm swarms" tactics and counterattacking enemy drones.
is facing great strategic pressure!
During the Russian military reforms in 2010, the North Caucasus Military Region, the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Fleet were merged into the Southern Military Region, and the Joint Strategic Command of the Southern Military Region was established. The southern strategic direction has formed an active defense strategy for , which is mainly aimed at dealing with real threats. Its main content is to take the permanent conventional forces as a strategic means, to eliminate terrorists and bandit armed forces as a realistic task, to counterattack NATO expansion and maintain its own dominance in the Caucasus region as its strategic interest demand, and to implement an active defense strategy with the strategic goal of winning armed conflicts and local wars with any opponent in the region.
In this special military operation of the Russian army in Ukraine, the strategic task of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is to seize the power of the Black Sea to control the sea, block the Ukrainian coastline, cut off its maritime channels, and then provide long-range fire support to the Russian army's ground military operations. Due to the weak strength of the Ukrainian Navy, the Russian Black Sea Fleet basically seized the Black Sea sea control power without any effort and completed the strategic task of cutting off its maritime channels. After that, for most of the time, the main task of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was to implement long-range missile attacks on Ukrainian military targets. Ships carrying "caliber" cruise missiles were the main force in performing combat missions. Even the Russian army also put the "fortress" shore missile system into long-range strikes on land and air targets.
Since the fleet flagship "Moscow" was sunk, the Ukrainian army used dot-U tactical missiles to hit three landing ships of the Black Sea Fleet, . The frigate of the subsequent flagship "Admiral Makarov" was also severely damaged, which greatly reduced the strength of the Black Sea Fleet. In addition, the fleet was attacked at several military bases, and the fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea was attacked twice in three weeks.
It can be said that the security situation in the entire Crimea region is not optimistic. On the other hand, NATO countries led by the United States continue to put pressure on Russia on the issue of Crimea's ownership, and NATO's military exercises in the Black Sea region have also increased significantly, which has put the Black Sea Fleet under great strategic pressure.
This time, Russian President Putin appointed Lieutenant General Sokolov as commander of the Black Sea Fleet, which is one of the major military adjustments of the Russian army since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. is also very difficult for the task Sokolov faces, especially at around 8 a.m. on October 8, an explosion occurred at the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula at , which broke down railway and road traffic on the bridge. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the strategic significance of Crimea Bridge has become increasingly prominent. Most of the local Russian troops, equipment, fuel and logistics supplies are transported through this bridge, especially in the context of the Ukrainian army's fierce attack on Khlsong and threatening Crimea's security. The Crimea Bridge plays an indispensable and important role in the Russian army and can be regarded as the "lifeline" of the Russian army's existence in the local area. After taking office, Sokolov not only wanted to lead the fleet to complete combat readiness training tasks, but also needed to start solving the problems of ensuring the security of the Crimean region and actively dispatch combat forces to participate in special military operations. There are many problems and difficulties that need to be solved.
