Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Sergei Iosifovich Avakyants (, ; b. 6 April 1957) is a Russian retired naval officer and a recipient of the
Order of Naval Merit and the
Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR.
Biography
Early life
Avakyants was born on 6 April 1957 in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
,
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
as the son of an Armenian naval officer and a Russian mother.
Education
He graduated from
Nakhimov Higher Naval School in 1980 and took the
Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy from 1989 to 1991. Seven years later, he graduated from the
Kuznetsov Naval Academy.
Career
He served in the
Northern Fleet
The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic.
According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...
and commanded the missile and gunnery section of the cruiser ''
Admiral Yumashev''.
He went on to serve on the
missile cruiser ''Admiral of the Fleet Lobov'', later renamed ''
Marshal Ustinov''. From 1991 to 1996, he was commanding officer of the same cruiser. By October 1996, he was a deputy commander and in 2001 commanded a missile ship division of the Northern Fleet.
From 2004 to 2007 he became
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
of an Operational Squadron of the Northern Fleet. He took courses between 2005 and 2007 at the
and in June that year became chief of staff at
Novorossiysk Naval Base of
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 ...
. In August of the same year he became a deputy commander of both
Primorye Flotilla and the
Pacific Fleet.
Since May 2012 he has been, by
Decree of the Russian President, commander of the Pacific Fleet. Between 26 and 30 July 2018, Avakyants hosted First Admiral Pengiran Dato Seri Pahlawan Norazmi bin Pengiran Haji Muhammad, commander of the
Royal Brunei Navy
The Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), natively known as (TLDB) is the naval force of Brunei. It is a small but relatively well-equipped military force whose main responsibility is to conduct search and rescue missions, and to deter and defend the Bru ...
on his first official visit to Russia.
In December 2018, he announced plans for the modernization of the Pacific Fleet, including modern submarines and surface ships, and the refitting of existing vessels to carry the
3M-54 Kalibr cruise missile.
On 21 April 2023, he was removed from his position as commander of the Pacific fleet, and Putin's envoy
Yury Trutnev
Yury Petrovich Trutnev (; born 1 March 1956) is a Russian politician who serves as a Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District since 2013. From 2004 to 2012, he served as Minister of Natural R ...
announced that Avakyants will head a new organization that will oversee military pilots' centers of sports training and patriotic education. Eventually, he headed a new Center for Military-Sports Training and Patriotic Education "
Voin".
В 12 регионах открыли центры патриотического воспитания
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avakyants, Sergei
1958 births
Living people
Military personnel from Yerevan
Russian people of Armenian descent
Russian admirals
Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School alumni
Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy alumni
N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy alumni
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni
Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky (Russian Federation)
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class
Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of Naval Merit (Russia)
Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class