Putin names new chief of Russian northern fleet

MOSCOW (AFP) May 29, 2004
President Vladimir Putin has appointed Rear Admiral Mikhail Abramov as head of the Russian Northern Fleet, a key component in the the country's navy, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said Saturday.

Abramov's appointment follows the four-year suspended sentence handed down earlier this month on predecessor Gennady Suchkov for negligence over the August 2003 sinking of a submarine in the Barents Sea in which nine seamen died.

Abramov formerly headed the Baltic fleet, one of the four that make up the Russian navy along with the Northern, Pacific and Black Sea fleets.

WAR.WIRE