Serhiy Anatoliyovych Hayduk ( ua, Сергій Анатолійович Гайдук; born 25 July 1963) is a Ukrainian Vice Admiral and 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 Arme ...

.Poroshenko dismissed the commander of the navy

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

(15 April 2016)

Career

Before becoming commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Hayduk held the staff position in charge of anti-submarine warfare, the position of chief of

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations, and was first deputy chief of staff of the navy. In 2007, he prevented an environmental disaster from ensuing when the leaky Russian vessel ''Odisk'' arrived in Crimea from Sierra Leone carrying ferroalloys. He was promoted to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in 2011. Hayduk was appointed acting commander on 2 March 2014, and commander on 7 March 2014 following the defection of

Denis Berezovsky 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 d ...

during the Crimean crisis. Berezovsky had been dismissed for "

high 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 ...

" after serving only a single day as commander. On 3 March 2014, Berezovsky, together with several Russian

cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

, had visited high-ranking officers of the Ukrainian Navy and asked them to change allegiance and side with the Russian armed forces in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. After a speech by Hayduk, all the officers rejected the proposal and started to sing the

Ukrainian national anthem "" ( uk, Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля, , lit=The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished), also known by its official title of "State Anthem of Ukraine" (, ') or by its shortened form "" (, ), is the ...

.Traitor of Ukrainian Navy has proposed Navy officers to join the Russian military.
Ukrainska pravda, 3 March 2014 On 19 March 2014, pro-Russian forces took over the Ukrainian Navy's headquarters at Sevastopol and imprisoned its newly appointed commander-in-chief, Hayduk. Hayduk, along with seven other hostages, was held by the pro-Russian so-called "

Crimean Security Service Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

" and most of these hostages were

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d while in captivity according to

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group in the Ukrainia ...

. The hostages were released by order of the Russian Defense Minister on 20 March 2014. On 23 August 2014, Hayduk was promoted to vice admiral. Hayduk was dismissed as commander of the Ukrainian navy by President

Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko ser ...

on 15 April 2016. He was succeeded by

Ihor Voronchenko Ihor Oleksandrovych Voronchenko ( ua, Воронченко Ігор Олександрович; born 22 August 1964) is a Ukrainian Vice Admiral and a former Commander of the Navy (Ukraine), commander of the Ukrainian Navy.

.Poroshenko appoints Commander of Naval Forces of Ukraine

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

(3 July 2016)

References

1963 births Formerly missing people Living people Military personnel from Dnipro Naval commanders of Ukraine People of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Ukrainian admirals Ukrainian people taken hostage Ukrainian victims of human rights abuses {{Ukraine-mil-bio-stub

Career

See also

References