MOSCOW -- Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov has confirmed media reports that he has taken over as commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet after a series of setbacks.
Sokolov said on August 19 that he had been appointed to take over the Black Sea Fleet for Igor Osipov, who was removed from the post earlier this week in one of the most prominent dismissals of a military official so far in Russia's war against Ukraine.
The change came after a series of explosions rocked Russian-occupied Crimea, which had previously been seen as a secure rear base for Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, launched in late February.
Osipov had been on the hot seat since April, when Russia's flagship vessel in the Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, sank near Crimea.
Ukraine claimed it hit the ship with a missile strike, while Russia said a fire caused a munitions explosion onboard and that the ship sank in stormy seas while being towed to port.
Either way, the sinking of the vessel was widely seen as an embarrassment for the Kremlin.
In late July, the fleet's headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol were hit by what is believed a bomb launched from a drone. Although the attack's damage was not serious, Russian authorities cancelled events marking Navy Day on July 31 and introduced highest level of terrorist threat in the city instead.
On August 9, a Russian Air Force base in Crimea was hit by several explosions. Russia's Defense Ministry has denied any serious damage, but images taken by Western satellites showed significant aircraft losses.
The dpa news agency on August 19 quoted Western officials as saying recent explosions in Crimea had put more than half of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet aircraft out of action and forced the fleet into a defensive posture.
TASS quoted Sokolov as telling a group of naval officers that the fleet was "successfully completing" all of the tasks set for it.