Russia's war in Ukraine is a tragedy. From a military perspective, it's also a farce. What was supposed to be a three-day Special Operation is dragging into its third year. And what are the Russians doing about their latest embarrassment? Blaming the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet who is presumed to have been killed in Crimea last September, as we speculated here and here.

Source: Moscow Times

The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been sacked after Ukraine said it had destroyed another Russian warship, according to unconfirmed reports by pro-war bloggers.

Ukrainian military intelligence said Wednesday its naval drones attacked and sank the Caesar Kunikov landing ship off the coast of the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Rybar, an influential Telegram channel with 1.2 million subscribers, reported that Viktor Sokolov has been removed as Black Sea Fleet commander and replaced by an unidentified chief of staff.

Sergei Pinchuk, the Black Sea Fleet’s first deputy commander, is listed as the fleet’s chief of staff in New Zealand’s 2023 sanctions designations against Russian figures.

Osvedomitel and Dva Mayora, two other Telegram channels that provide running commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine, said the destruction of the Caesar Kunikov appeared to have been the “last straw” for Sokolov’s superiors.

A fourth blogger, Roman Saponkov, blamed Sokolov for a series of orders that undermined security and led to the loss of 20% of the Black Sea Fleet.