Navy Head Gets Sacked For Not Moving Headquarters
Published: May 16, 2012 (Issue # 1708)
The head of Russia’s navy, Vladimir Vysotsky, has been fired for ignoring orders from General Headquarters and the Ministry of Defense to move navy headquarters from Moscow to St. Petersburg, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Vysotsky was fired by then-President Dmitry Medvedev on May 6, but will remain in military service, the agency reported.
“Vysotsky did not move to St. Petersburg. That is the main reason for his dismissal,” a high-ranking representative from General Headquarters told RIA Novosti.
The representative said Vysotsky deserved respect for standing his ground, but that the new head of the navy would still have to move headquarters to St. Petersburg.
On May 6, Medvedev also appointed vice-admiral Viktor Chirkov as the new head of the navy.
Another high-ranking source from General Headquarters told Interfax news agency that Vysotsky’s dismissal had to do with the recent fire that broke out at a shipyard and spread aboard the strategic nuclear missile carrier “Yekaterinburg.”
“The fire that happened at the end of last year on the “Yekaterinburg,” which had weapons onboard at the time, was the last straw for the country’s authorities and Ministry of Defense,” the source said, Interfax reported.
The representative also mentioned that during Vysotsky’s tenure as head of the navy, there were fires at a navy base near Moscow and at the Ulyanovsk naval arms depot. He was also in charge when a gas leak onboard the nuclear submarine “Nerpa” killed 20.
The same anonymous representatives also negated the fact that Vysotsky was against moving navy headquarters to St. Petersburg.
“Despite the opinion that Vysotsky actively opposed enacting the decision, he never challenged it,” the source said, Interfax reported.