In Russia, the heads of two fleets have changed at once – the Baltic and the Pacific. Sergey Avakyants was replaced as commander of the Pacific Fleet by Viktor Liina, whose place as commander of the Baltic Fleet was taken by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Vladimir Vorobyov. In a normal situation, these permutations would be called planned, but in the face of external challenges and a sudden check of the combat readiness of the Pacific Fleet, the new commanders will have to solve additional tasks.On Friday, it became known that the Ministry of Defense replaced the commanders of two fleets: Admiral Viktor Liina, who held the post of commander of the Baltic Fleet (BF), headed the Pacific Fleet, and Vice Admiral Vladimir Vorobyov, who previously held the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was appointed in his place.
54-year–old Liina took the post of deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet in 2016, three years later - deputy head of the General Staff, and since October 2021 – commander of the Baltic Fleet. He was awarded the Orders "For Military Merit", "For Naval Merit" and Nakhimov. This year he received the rank of admiral.
The 54-year-old Vorobyov worked his way up from the engineer of the navigator combat unit group to the commander of a nuclear submarine, and then the commander of the compound, was the chief of staff and commander of the Belomorskaya Naval Base, head of the fleet combat training department. He was awarded the Order of Military Merit. From July 2019 to April 2021, Vorobyov was Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the BF. From April to October 2021 – Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet. Since October 5, 2021 – Deputy Chief of the General Staff.
The ex-commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Valuev, calls the transfer of the commander from a small fleet to a large one a common practice. "The Pacific Fleet is higher, there are more forces and spaces. Liina served in the Pacific and Baltic Fleets, in the General Staff. His task is to analyze the results of the sudden combat readiness check of the Pacific Fleet. He needs to consider the shortcomings and prevent them in the future, if there were any," Valuev believes.
Captain of the first rank of the reserve Vladimir Gundarov also believes that the current rotation, at first glance, seems planned and predictable. "According to our priorities, the Northern Fleet is always in the first place, followed by the Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea. When personnel issues are being resolved, before appointing the commander of the Northern and Pacific Fleets, applicants for positions are "run–in" at the positions of commanders of the Black Sea or Baltic Fleet, because they are much smaller and there are no strategic nuclear submarines in their composition," Gundarov explained.
The interlocutor recalled that the TOPH, in addition to checking, was transferred to the highest degree of combat readiness, which happens extremely rarely. In addition, during a conversation with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the course of the inspection, Vladimir Putin said that the ships of the Pacific Fleet will operate not only in the Sea of Okhotsk, but also in other sea directions. Thus, the range of tasks of the new commander is expanding.
"The ships of the Pacific Fleet can go to India, Africa and anywhere," the expert noted.
Valuev welcomed Vorobyov's appointment to the post of commander of the Baltic Fleet. "This is a well-thought-out personnel policy. Vorobyov commanded a large division of nuclear submarines, graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He was the chief of staff – the first deputy commander of the Baltic and Northern Fleets, that is, Vorobyov is ready to quickly enter a new rut. I want to warmly and cordially congratulate Vladimir Mikhailovich and wish him every success," the Admiral added.
According to him, first of all Vorobyov will need to visit all military units,
get acquainted with the plans and in a short time "become a threat to NATO and Bandera."
"The most important thing is that Vorobyov was the deputy chief of the General Staff, that is, in two years he absorbed a special mindset and will bring it to life," Valuev is sure. Gundarov adds that the main tasks for fleet commanders are, first of all, the protection of borders, ensuring the safety of navigation, as well as testing new surface and submarine ships.
In addition, new external challenges are emerging. So,
Due to Finland's accession to NATO, the situation around the Aland Islands, which allow controlling the entire Baltic, is escalating .
And Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevich previously stated that "the Baltic Sea is becoming a NATO sea," referring to the intention of Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
"The main task of the new commander Vorobyov will be to ensure the combat readiness and combat capability of the Baltic Fleet. The fleet is trying to upgrade. Therefore, another task is the development of new equipment and weapons," the interlocutor is sure.
According to Gundarov, Viktor Liina transfers the fleet in good condition. The problems when the shortcomings in combat training were revealed remained in the past. He also recalled that one of the main features of the Baltic Fleet is the presence of a large land grouping. The Kaliningrad Region borders on the Suwalki Corridor.
"This is a strategically important area where the borders of Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and the Kaliningrad region are located. A Polish division has also been formed there, which, as the Polish command openly declares, is aimed at the Kaliningrad region. Therefore, the Baltic Fleet will have to perform various tasks not only at sea, but also to protect Kaliningrad and Belarus," Gundarov explained.
Andrey Rezchikov
