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The »Moskva« in an older photo in the Black Sea
Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS
In April, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, sunk after Ukrainian fire.
Now the British secret service assumes that Igor Ossipow, commander of the fleet, had to vacate his post in the wake of the shame.
The British Ministry of Defense announced on Twitter that he was "most likely" fired.
In addition, according to British information, the Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Kissel was replaced after unsuccessful attacks in the Kharkiv region.
There was no confirmation of this from the Russian side.
The British "Times" also reports that Ossipov has not been seen in public since the sinking of the "Moskva".
It is highly likely that he is under arrest, the newspaper reports.
The Ukrainian secret service had previously claimed that Osipov had been fired.
It was also noticed that Ossipov was absent from the May 9 military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Sevastopol on the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Osipov was commander of the Caspian Flotilla from 2015 to 2016 and commander of the Black Sea Fleet since 2019.
Sinking of a flagship
The "Moskva" was considered the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet and the most heavily armed ship.
In 2008, the »Moskva« took part in the war effort in South Ossetia.
From 2015 to 2016, the warship provided air defense for the Russian Hmeimim air force base on the Syrian coast from the sea.
On April 14, the "Moskva" was hit by Ukrainian rockets and sank shortly thereafter.
The government in Moscow initially did not confirm the information, according to the Russians, the ship sank after there was an explosion on board.
A week later, the Defense Ministry in Moscow admitted the death of a crew member and 27 other sailors were missing.
The remaining 396 crew members were rescued.
However, according to a decree by Putin in 2015, information about killed, injured or missing soldiers on board are classified as state secrets in Russia.
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