Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Aleksandr Viktorovich Vitko (russian: Александр Викторович Витко; born September 13, 1961) is a retired officer of the Russian Navy, and a former commander of 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, ...

between April 2013 and June 2018.

Biography

Aleksandr Vitko was born September 13, 1961, in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

, the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

. In 1984 he graduated 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 ...

, and served in the Pacific Fleet. During 2009-2013 he was the Deputy commander of 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 ...

. Vitko took command of the

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, ...

on April 15, 2013. Vitko took an active part in the events of the

2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...

. He delivered to Ukrainian troops an ultimatum to surrender before 5:00 am on March 4, threatening to storm the offices and units of the armed forces of Ukraine in the Crimea. On March 4, 2014, together with Aleksei Chaly he visited the headquarters of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. The next day, he was prosecuted by the general prosecutor of Ukraine on charges of incitement to treason and sabotage against the organization of the Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry called this an attempt of provocation aimed to destabilize the situation in Crimea. According to Deputy Defense Minister

Anatoly Antonov Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov (born 15 May 1955) is a Russian military officer and diplomat who is currently the Ambassador of Russia to the United States, formally replacing Sergey Kislyak on 21 August 2017 by presidential decree. With a rep ...

, the Black Sea Fleet commander performed his duties lawfully, in strict compliance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements on basing the Russian fleet in Ukraine and the Charter of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On March 12, 2014, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal investigation into the illegal decision of the General Prosecutor's Office against Aleksandr Vitko. He would be included amongst the individuals who were targeted with asset freezes, travel bans, and sanctions by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. On June 26, 2018, it was announced that Vitko was replaced by Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseev and assigned "a new place of military service in the Navy High Command." In 2019 Vitko was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, replacing Vice-Admiral Andrei Volozhinsky, and was seen as a potential political replacement for

Dmitry Ovsyannikov Dmitry Vladimirovich Ovsiannikov (Russian: Дмитрий Владимирович Овсянников; born on 21 February 1977) is a Russian politician who served as Governor of Sevastopol from 18 September 2017 to 11 July 2019. He is consid ...

Sanctions

In March 2014 the EU enacted sanctions against Aleksandr Vitko in relation to the violation of Ukrainian sovereign territory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitko, Aleksandr 1961 births Living people Military personnel from Vitebsk Russian admirals People of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions