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Confirmed: Admiral Maksimov leaves Northern Fleet

Commander of the Northern Fleet Admiral Maksimov (Photo Trude Pettersen)

Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Nikolay Maksimov has been appointed Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Western Military District.

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Speculations about Admiral Maksimov’s transfer started a month ago, when a naval news site cited a source in the Ministry of Defense saying that the Northern Fleet commander was to be moved to a higher position, as BarentsObserver reported.

President Medvedev has made one other change in the leadership of the Northern Fleet – Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Mikhail Ilinykh has been released from his position, ITAR-TASS reports.

President Medvedev has the last couple of days made several shifts in the leadership of the Russian armed forces. Some of the high-ranking officers have been released from duty without any official explanations, while others have been moved to higher positions.

The last can be said about Admiral Maksimov, who will get one of the top positions in the reorganized military system. In 2010, Russia’s former six military districts into four bigger joint commands – Southern, Central, Eastern and Western.

The Western Military Command was created on the base of the former Leningrad and Moscow districts. The Northern and the Baltic Fleets were also attached to this organization.

Nikolay Maksimov has commanded the Northern Fleet since September 2007. During his time as the head of Russia’s most powerful fleet, the relationship between Norwegian and Russian armed forces has continued to develop in a very positive way.

Last summer units from the Northern Fleet and the Norwegian Navy trained together in the joint navy exercise ”POMOR 2010”, and preparations for this year’s exercise is well underway.