Vladimir Putin fires Admiral Sergei Avakyants, one of his most senior commanders

One of Russia’s most senior military commanders, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, was sacked as chief of the prestigious Pacific Fleet by Vladimir Putin.

As announced by Russian deputy prime minister Yuri Trutnev, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, the head of the Pacific Fleet, has been removed from his position by Vladimir Putin.

The naval officer is one of the most senior commanders in the country. He was recently in charge of the ongoing vast naval exercises that are clearly being conducted as a show of force to the West.

Specifically, they are thought to be aimed at Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Moscow’s action came out of the blue and is believed to be Putin’s way of checking on the battle readiness of his fleet at short notice.

Clearly, its timing is seen as a direct response to joint naval missile defence exercises that the three Western allies staged earlier this week in the same region.

These high-scale war games are taking place in neutral waters off the east coast of Asia. They involved two Tu-95MS nuclear bombers that were observed last Tuesday 18, flying over the Bering and Okhotsk seas. Attack submarines also participated in live fire drills.

Video footage posted on the MoD Telegram channel showed Pacific Fleet ships conducting artillery and missile live-fire drills in the Sea of Japan.

Yesterday, Wednesday 19, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that eight nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers were deployed over the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. Although the drills were labelled a ‘success’ by the Kremlin, something obviously upset Putin to force him into dismissing such a high-ranking officer with a long service history.

Admiral Avakyants has now been removed from this massive Russian military showcase. He was appointed as chief of the prestigious Pacific Fleet back in 2012. His replacement has not yet been named by the Kremlin, as reported by metro.co.uk.