“Now, no Russian warship has entered the territory of almost 25 thousand square kilometers since 2023.” That is how Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian Navy, described the northwestern Black Sea in an interview Ukrinform reported on July 6, 2024. “This is the task that was set for the fleet.”
Neizhpapa is a Sevastopol native who now runs a navy that lost its home port. He was born there in 1975 and graduated from the Sevastopol Naval Institute in 1997. Later study included operational and tactical training at the same institute in 2008 and a course at Ukraine’s National Defense University in 2015.
Path to command
UNIAN reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed him navy commander by decree № 217/2020, signed on June 11, 2020. He held the rank of rear admiral at the time. By 2024 Ukrainian outlets were describing him as a vice admiral.
His record at sea ran from commanding a group of frigates to leading a brigade of surface vessels. From 2015 to 2019 he served as deputy navy commander and headed combat training; he took the deputy post again in April 2020, two months before the top job. He took part in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and several times led Ukraine’s side of the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze exercises.
What he says the navy is doing
In his July 2024 remarks, Neizhpapa said any vessel flying the St. Andrew’s flag, the Russian naval ensign, is a legitimate target for his navy wherever it sits. Keeping Kalibr missiles from hitting Ukrainian territory is another assigned task, and he conceded it is not finished. On landings he was more confident: “Preventing the landing of the troops – this task has been accomplished so far… I think it will be fulfilled in the future.”
He has also argued about geography. In January 2024 he told Ukrainska Pravda that Sevastopol is the one base Russia cannot replace. “Without Sevastopol, they would not have been able to keep the Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea,” he said. Novorossiysk, he noted, has no airfields, no large repair plants and no weapons storage facilities.
Sevastopol, in his account, is a strategic hub with a hospital, a medical supply centre, repair plants and educational institutions. Ammunition and fuel are scattered across it and hidden in mountains. Asked how Ukraine would deny Russia those bases while Moscow still holds Crimea, he answered: “This is work that must be done.”
Ukrinform also noted an earlier report in which he said the Kerch Bridge would have to be destroyed to liberate occupied Crimea.
Sources
- Military appointment – Zelensky taps Rear Admiral Neizhpapa to command Navy (UNIAN)
- Ukraine's Navy Commander says Russia won't be able to maintain fleet without Sevastopol (Ukrainska Pravda)
- No Russian warship enters northwestern Black Sea since 2023 – Neizhpapa (Ukrinform)
