Denis Valentinovich Berezovsky ( ua, Денис Валентинович Березовський, russian: Дени́с Валенти́нович Березо́вский; born 15 July 1974) is a rear admiral and the

Russian Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

deputy commander. He is also a former commander of the

Ukrainian Navy The Military Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Військо́во-морські́ си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни, ВМС ЗСУ) is the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Ar ...

. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Navy by Interim President

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov ( uk, Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National S ...

on 1 March 2014, after the acting commander of the Ukrainian Navy Sergei Yeliseyev defected to Russia the same day. After serving for just one day, on 2 March, he defected to the self-declared pro-Russian separatist Crimean government during the 2014 Crimean crisis. On 24 March 2014, the Defense Minister of Russia

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

appointed Berezovsky as the Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. On 5 March 2014, the Office of the

General Prosecutor of Ukraine The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, uk, Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General ( uk, Офіс ...

issued an order to detain Berezovsky on suspicion of treason.

Early life

Denis Berezovsky was born on 15 July 1974, in Kharkiv,

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Military service

A graduate of the Nakhimov Higher Naval Institute (

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

) in 1996, Berezovsky was the commander of the frigate ''Hetman Sahaydachniy'' from 2002 to 2005. On 6 December 2012, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. In 2012 and 2013, he led the joint exercises with Ukraine and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Sea Breeze 2012 and SeaBreeze 2013. Prior to 1 March 2014, he served as deputy commander for combat training - Head of the Ukrainian Navy combat training. On 1 March 2014, President Turchynov appointed Berezovsky as Commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. In the morning of 2 March 2014, Berezovsky was dismissed from the post of commander of the Ukrainian Navy after he issued orders to lay down arms. After being dismissed, he appeared in media to announce he was defecting to the Russian-supported new Crimean authorities as "pledging allegiance to the Crimean people". On 24 March 2014, Russian Defence Minister

along with a group from the Defence Ministry visited Crimea where he appointed Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky, as the new Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. He served this post until 15 October 2015, before being posted again to the

Russian Pacific Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Pacific Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Russian Pacific Fleet Great emblem , dates = 1731–present , country ...

as the deputy commander in November 2018. On 20 February 2020, he was awarded the rank of Vice Admiral.

Defection

On 2 March 2014, Berezovsky defected to the new Russian-supported Crimean authorities and took an "oath of allegiance to the people of Crimea". "Earlier in the morning of the same day" (as was announced later), he was removed from his position in the

"for failing to manage the Navy in extreme conditions" at the decision of the Defense Minister, Ihor Tenyukh.

Dmitry Tymchuk Dmytro Borysovych Tymchuk ( uk, Дмитро́ Бори́сович Тимчу́к; 27 June 1972 – 19 June 2019) was a member of parliament of Ukraine, a Ukrainian military expert and blogger, an officer of the Ukrainian military reserve (''Lie ...

, the head of the Center of Military and Political Research, suggested at his Facebook page that Berezovsky pledged his allegiance when his family was kidnapped and held hostage. His defection immediately resulted in Ukraine launching a

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

case against him, and the appointment of

Serhiy Hayduk Serhiy Anatoliyovych Hayduk ( ua, Сергій Анатолійович Гайдук; born 25 July 1963) is a Ukrainian Vice Admiral and a former commander of the Ukrainian Navy. On 3 March 2014, both Berezovsky and Hayduk addressed

officers. The officers broke into applause when Hayduk read them the order that removed Berezovsky from his position and that Berezovsky was facing treason charges; this was followed by spontaneous singing of the Ukrainian national anthem. Berezovsky then unsuccessfully tried to entice the officers over to the newly proclaimed Crimean fleet which he had been appointed head of — assuring them that they would retain their ranks and there would be no interruption of salary payments. He (then) claimed that "

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

is the legitimately elected

president of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

," and that thus it would be no breach of oath if they served Crimea since "the seizure of power in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

was orchestrated from abroad" (referring to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution).

Honours

Medal "For Irreproachable Service" The Medal "For Irreproachable Service" is a service medal of Ukraine. It was established by presidential decree on 5 October 1996. The medal is presented to officers and Warrant Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as well as Officers and enl ...

, 3rd Class (27 June 2007, revoked in March 2014) - ''for personal contribution to strengthening the defense of Ukraine, the exemplary performance of military duty, and on the Day of the Naval Forces of Ukraine.'' *The memorial "230 years of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation" (the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, 2013) - ''for active participation in the preparation and conduct of the joint Ukrainian-Russian exercises "Fairway of Peace 2013" shown a high level of theoretical training, sea, field and flight proficiency.''

References

External link