Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev has signed an order to transfer the Navy headquarters from Sevastopol to Kyiv, Yuriy Syrotiuk, a Svoboda opposition party parliamentarian and member of the parliament's national security and defense committee, said.
“Pavlo Lebedev signed an urgent order that the headquarters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Navy be transferred from Sevastopol to Kyiv. Obviously, this step will both weaken and undermine our military and political positions in Sevastopol and crimea, diminishing the combat readiness and combat potential of the Ukrainian Navy,” Syrotiuk was quoted by Svoboda’s press service as saying on July 16.
The Navy has until September or October 2013 to implement the minister’s instruction, the parliamentarian said.
Such steps approved by Lebedev reveal “the authorities’ plans to surrender Sevastopol and Kyiv”, he said.
“Given the presence of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the removal of the Ukrainian Navy command from Sevastopol will mean the Russian fleet’s monopolistic influence on the military and political situation both in Sevastopol and Crimea,” he said.
Interfax-Ukraine has so far been unable to obtain the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s official comments.
