Denis Valentinovich Berezovsky (, ; born 15 July 1974) is a

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

of the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

and the Russian Black Sea Fleet Deputy Commander. He is also the former Commander of the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Navy by Interim President

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...

on 1 March 2014, after the Acting Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Sergei Yeliseyev defected to Russia the same day. After serving for just one day, on 2 March, he defected to the self-declared pro-Russian separatist Crimean government during the 2014 Crimean crisis. On 24 March 2014, the Defense Minister of Russia

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served a ...

appointed Berezovsky as the Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. On 5 March 2014, the Office of the

General Prosecutor of Ukraine The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by th ...

issued an order to detain Berezovsky on suspicion of treason.

Early life

Denis Berezovsky was born on 15 July 1974, in Kharkiv,

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Military service

A graduate of the Nakhimov Higher Naval Institute (

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

) in 1996, Berezovsky was the commander of the frigate ''Hetman Sahaydachniy'' from 2002 to 2005. On 6 December 2012, he was promoted to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. In 2012 and 2013, he led the joint exercises with Ukraine and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Sea Breeze 2012 and SeaBreeze 2013. Prior to 1 March 2014, he served as deputy commander for combat training - Head of the Ukrainian Navy combat training. On 1 March 2014, President Turchynov appointed Berezovsky as Commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. In the morning of 2 March 2014, Berezovsky was dismissed from the post of commander of the Ukrainian Navy after he issued orders to lay down arms. After being dismissed, he appeared in media to announce he was defecting to the Russian-supported new Crimean authorities as "pledging allegiance to the Crimean people". On 24 March 2014, Russian Defence Minister

along with a group from the Defence Ministry visited Crimea where he appointed Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky, as the new Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. He served this post until 15 October 2015, before being posted again to the

Russian Pacific Fleet The Pacific Fleet () is the Russian Navy fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1731 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the fleet was known as the Okhotsk Military Flotilla (1731–1856) and Siberian Military Flotilla (1856–1918), for ...

as the deputy commander in November 2018. On 20 February 2020, he was awarded the rank of Vice Admiral.

Defection

On 2 March 2014, Berezovsky defected to the new Russian-supported Crimean authorities and took an "oath of allegiance to the people of Crimea". "Earlier in the morning of the same day" (as was announced later), he was removed from his position in the

"for failing to manage the Navy in extreme conditions" at the decision of the Defense Minister,

Ihor Tenyukh Ihor Yosypovych Tenyukh (; born 23 May 1958) is a former Ukrainian admiral and Svoboda party member. He was the commander of the Ukrainian Navy from 2006 until 2010 when dismissed by Viktor Yanukovych. Tenyukh fully supported the 2013–2014 u ...

. Dmitry Tymchuk, the head of the Center of Military and Political Research, suggested at his Facebook page that Berezovsky pledged his allegiance when his family was kidnapped and held hostage. His defection immediately resulted in Ukraine launching a

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

case against him, and the appointment of

Serhiy Hayduk Serhiy Anatoliyovych Hayduk (; born 25 July 1963) is a Ukrainian Vice Admiral and a former commander of the Ukrainian Navy. On 3 March 2014, both Berezovsky and Hayduk addressed

officers. The officers broke into applause when Hayduk read them the order that removed Berezovsky from his position and that Berezovsky was facing treason charges; this was followed by spontaneous singing of the Ukrainian national anthem. Berezovsky then unsuccessfully tried to entice the officers over to the newly proclaimed Crimean fleet which he had been appointed head of — assuring them that they would retain their ranks and there would be no interruption of salary payments. He (then) claimed that "

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

is the legitimately elected

president of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

," and that thus it would be no breach of oath if they served Crimea since "the seizure of power in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

was orchestrated from abroad" (referring to the

2014 Ukrainian revolution The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

Sanctions

He was sanctioned by the UK government in 2014 in relation to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Honours

* Medal "For Irreproachable Service", 3rd Class (27 June 2007, revoked in March 2014) - ''for personal contribution to strengthening the defense of Ukraine, the exemplary performance of military duty, and on the Day of the Naval Forces of Ukraine.'' *The memorial "230 years of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

of the Russian Federation" (the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, 2013) - ''for active participation in the preparation and conduct of the joint Ukrainian-Russian exercises "Fairway of Peace 2013" shown a high level of theoretical training, sea, field and flight proficiency.''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berezovsky, Denis 1974 births Living people Military personnel from Kharkiv Fugitives wanted by Ukraine Ukrainian admirals Ukrainian defectors People of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Russian admirals Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School alumni Naval commanders of Ukraine Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Ukrainian collaborators with Russia Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Treason in Ukraine Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions