Northern Fleet Commander appointed Admiral
President Vladimir Putin has a signed a decree appointing the powerful leader of the Arctic forces to Admiral, the second-highest rank in the Russian navy.
The decree was published on the Government’s portal after Putin put his stamp on it on December 10.
Aleksandr Moiseev had the rank as Vice-Admiral when he last May was appointed as new Head Commander of the Northern Fleet. He had then commanded the Black Sea Fleet for a year in Sevastopol on the annexed Crimea. Being the head Commander of the Northern Fleet, the largest of Russia’s four fleets, is more prestigious than commanding the Black Sea Fleet.
A few months before appointed Commander of the Northern Fleet, Aleksandr Moiseev, was by the Ukrainian Security Service notified of suspicion of engaging in an aggressive military action related to the Kerch Strait incident when the Russian coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy ships attempting to pass into the Sea of Azov.
Moiseev is 58 years old. He studied at the navy’s technical institute before joining the Northern Fleet as a submariner. Later, he studied at the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the armed forces.
In the Northern Fleet, Aleksandr Moiseev commanded the submarine forces from 2012-2016. Before that, in the 1990ties, he served onboard several of the Northern Fleet’s Delta-IV ballistic missile submarines, including the Karelia, Novomoskovsk and Bryansk. He had many missions under the Arctic ice-cap, including one surfacing at the North Pole.
In 2017-2018, he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces. In 2011, Moiseev was awarded Hero of Russia, with reference to his leadership onboard submarines, including when test-launching ballistic missiles.
Admiral Moiseev visited Norway in October 2019, when the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the country’s northeastern region by the Red Army was celebrated.
