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#3
polit.ru
December 6, 2001
Why Did Putin Shake the Northern Fleet?
Russian political analysts comment on the recent reshuffle in the Northern
Fleet, the situation in the Russian Navy, and the army reform
(www.therussianissues.com)
So, Vice Admiral Gennady Suchkov has just replaced the Northern Fleet's
ousted commander-in-chief Vyacheslav Popov who was exiled to the Nuclear Energy
Ministry. Suchkov has worked less than six months as the Pacific Fleet's
commander in chief. Now he appears to be the first candidate to replace Vladimir
Kuroyedov as the Russian Navy's Commander in Chief. By all bureaucratic
standards he must have resigned already. But the ousters of Admirals Popov and
his chief of staff Mikhail Motsak generated conflicting responses.
The formal reasons of their resignations have not yet been articulated. It is
clear these were exemplary ousters. By a common opinion, both are assigned to be
held responsible for the Kursk submarine disaster. "Persistently
articulated reasoning that they were sacked not because of the Kursk is sheer
disinformation", deputy chairman of the Duma defense committee Alexei
Arbatov says. "When [Russian Chief of General Staff] Kvashnin reiterates
the ousters are not linked to the Kiursk, one can draw a conclusion there is a
direct link", Arbatov says. In his opinion, the ousters "demoralized
and enraged naval officers".
By contrast, deputy director of the Carnegie Foundation Dmitry Trenin, the
Popov-Motskas double ouster sent a signal that he is a strict Supreme
Commander-in-Chief who keeps a close watch for the situation in the armed forces
and is prepared to take most serious personnel-policy decisions. By these
sackings Putin reacted to the army top brass's "muffled resistance" to
the military reform idea, Trenin says.
Both Popov and Motsak favored the orthodox version of the Kursk's demise:
they argued the Russian submarine collided with a foreign sub. While announcing
the ousters, President Putin disavowed the collision version saying it has not
been confirmed by any evidence. "It would be wrong to say Popov was ousted
for his misunderstanding of the President's foreign policy; at the same time, by
such a strict measure, the President has shown he fully realizes his standing as
the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. But Admiral Kuroyedov had also referred to
"a foreign submarine" as the possible cause of the Kursk's sinking and
yet he has kept his post, Arbatov says, which means the both sacked admirals
were made scapegoats.
Trenin, however, assumes that "Putin needs a fulcrum. He cuts away
branches, but he keeps the trunk intact, in order to have this fulcrum. So, the
Navy Commander-in-Chief is in a position to back the policy-line of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief". In all, Trenin believes the "mopping-up"
operation in the Navy was the President's major reformist step aimed at changing
the very basis of the ethics of the Russian armed forces, which, in his words,
"is sill minting officers prepared to wage the third world war against
America". Putin, while realizing the vital need for the army reform, keeps
the ideological matters under his control as well, and demonstrates who is the
boss in the Russian army.
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