Andrei Olgertovich Volozhinsky (russian: Андрей Ольгертович Воложинский; born 4 June 1960) is an officer of the
Russian Navy. He holds the rank of
vice-admiral, and has most recently served as the First Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy (Russian: Главнокомандующий ВМФ) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Navy. He is appointed by the President of Russia. The position dates to the period of the Russian Em ...
and Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, between 2016 and 2019.
Born in 1960, Volozhinsky began his education in naval institutions, graduating from the
Nakhimov Naval School
The Nakhimov Naval School (russian: Нахимовское военно-морское училище) or Nakhimov School (russian: Нахимовское училище) is a form of military education for teenagers introduced in the Soviet Unio ...
in 1977, and the
M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School in 1982. His active service began with the
Northern Fleet
Severnyy flot
, image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem
, start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...
, where he served on submarines, eventually rising to his own command of a nuclear
ballistic missile submarine. After further study, this time at the
N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy, he became chief of staff and deputy commander, and then commander, of one of the fleet's submarine divisions. From here he rose to take command of the fleet's 12th submarine squadron, comprising its nuclear ballistic missile submarines. This placed him in command of a substantial portion of Russia's naval nuclear forces, and Russian nuclear weapons in general.
After completing studies at the
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Volozhinsky was appointed Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet, spending several months in 2011 as acting commander of the fleet. He then began service with the General Operations Directorate of the
General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and in 2016 became First Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy (Russian: Главнокомандующий ВМФ) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Navy. He is appointed by the President of Russia. The position dates to the period of the Russian Em ...
and Chief of the General Staff of the Navy. Over his career he has been awarded the
Order of Military Merit and the
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by P ...
Fourth Class.
Education and early service
Volozhinsky was born on 4 June 1960 in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
then part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
He entered the
Nakhimov Naval School
The Nakhimov Naval School (russian: Нахимовское военно-морское училище) or Nakhimov School (russian: Нахимовское училище) is a form of military education for teenagers introduced in the Soviet Unio ...
in Leningrad in 1975, graduating in 1977.
Between 1977 and 1982 he studied at the
M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School and began service with the
Northern Fleet
Severnyy flot
, image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem
, start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...
on his graduation, initially as in an officer commanding a naval warhead unit, rising to the post of assistant commander of a submarine in 1991.
He took the , graduating in 1992 and then serving as senior assistant commander of a submarine until 1995.
That year he took command of the second crew of the nuclear
ballistic missile submarine K-496 ''Borisoglebsk'' of the Northern Fleet.
He held this post until 1999, and in July 2001, after graduating from the
N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy, he was appointed chief of staff and deputy commander of the .
Submarine commands
From December 2002 until 2005 Volozhinsky served as commander of the submarine division, and from 31 August 2005 was chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Northern Fleet's 12th submarine squadron.
In August 2009 Rear-Admiral Volozhinsky was appointed commander of the 12th submarine squadron, succeeding Rear-Admiral Sergei Farkov on his appointment as deputy commander of the
Baltic Fleet.
In 2009 the 12th submarine squadron was one of two submarine squadrons of the Northern Fleet, comprising three divisions, the 18th, 24th, and Volozhinsky's old command, the 31st, with the 31st containing its nuclear ballistic missile submarines.
Of these divisions, the 31st was the most significant, consisting of six
Project 667BDRM ''Delfin''-class submarines carrying 96
RSM-54 missiles with 384 nuclear warheads, comprising almost 14% of the total number of all strategic Russian warheads and 63% of Russia's naval strategic nuclear forces.
The 18th consisted of three
Project 941 ''Akula''-class vessels, and the 24th of six
Project 971 ''Shchuka-B''-class boats.
Under Volozhinsky's command at this time happened to be his brother Mikhail, serving as commander of the Project 941 ''Akula''-class submarine
TK-20 ''Severstal''.
Higher flag positions
Also in 2009 Volozhinsky completed his studies at the
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and in February 2010 he was appointed Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet.
From 30 March to 24 June 2011 he served as acting commander of the Northern Fleet, after the previous commander, Admiral
Nikolai Maksimov
Nikolai Mikhailovich Maksimov (russian: Николай Михайлович Максимов; born 15 May 1956) is a retired officer of the Russian Navy. He currently holds the rank of admiral in the reserve, and has most recently been head of ...
, was appointed chief of staff and first deputy commander of the troops of the
Western Military District
The Western Military District (russian: Западный военный округ, Zapadnyy voyennyy okrug) is a military district of Russia.
It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primari ...
.
On 11 May 2011 he hosted US
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Gary Roughead
Gary Roughead ( "rough head"; born July 15, 1951) is a former United States Navy officer who served as the 29th Chief of Naval Operations from September 29, 2007 to September 22, 2011. He previously served as Commander, United States Fleet Forces ...
during his visit to the Northern Fleet.
During the visit, Volozhinsky and Roughead toured the nuclear battlecruiser
''Pyotr Velikiy'', and the submarine .
In September 2012 Volozhinsky began serving in the General Operations Directorate of the
General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and on 12 June 2013 was promoted to vice-admiral.
On 25 January 2016 it was announced that Volozhinsky had been appointed First Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy (Russian: Главнокомандующий ВМФ) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Navy. He is appointed by the President of Russia. The position dates to the period of the Russian Em ...
and Chief of the General Staff of the Navy.
He succeeded Admiral
Aleksandr Tatarinov, who had held the position since July 2009.
He served as such until December 2019, when he was succeeded by Admiral
Aleksandr Vitko.
Over his career Volozhinsky has been awarded the
Order of Military Merit and the
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by P ...
Fourth Class, as well as numerous medals.
Sanctions
Sanctioned by the
UK government in 2022 in relation to
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volozhinsky, Andrei Olgertovich
1960 births
Living people
People from Tallinn
Soviet Navy personnel
Russian admirals
Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia)
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class
N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy alumni
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni
Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions