Four fleets and the Caspian flotilla of the Russian Navy will return to the direct subordination of the Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Evmenov by December 1, when the new academic year begins in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. A source close to law enforcement agencies reported this to TASS .
“The corresponding decision has been made. Also, the Northern Fleet will lose its status as a joint strategic command from December 1. Despite the reassignment of the fleets to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, it and the Main Headquarters of the Navy will remain in St. Petersburg for now,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
TASS does not have official confirmation of this information.
Until recently, the Black Sea, Baltic and Pacific fleets, as well as the Caspian flotilla, were subordinate to the corresponding military districts, and the Northern Fleet, in the status of a unified strategic command, corresponded to the military district.
According to the agency’s interlocutor, the ground forces and the Air Force and Air Defense Army, which were in the area of responsibility of the Northern Fleet in four regions of the North of Russia, will be transferred to the emerging Leningrad Military District (LMD).
He noted that currently the number of Naval Command in St. Petersburg is less than 300 officers and admirals. There are no plans to increase it in the near future. During the era of the USSR and in the first years of the existence of modern Russia, the number of the Main Command, located in Moscow, was about 1,500 people.
In July 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the formation of governing bodies of two new military districts: Moscow and Leningrad. It is expected that their formation will be completed before the end of the year.