Sergei Pinchuk

Sergei Mikhailovich Pinchuk (Сергей Михайлович Пинчук; born 26 July 1971) is an officer of the Russian Navy. He currently holds the rank of kontr-admiral, and is commander in chief of the Caspian Flotilla.

Career
Pinchuk was born on 26 July 1971 in Sevastopol, then part of the Ukrainian SSR, in the Soviet Union. His father, Mikhail Fedorovich Pinchuk, was also a naval officer, who commanded the Kynda-class cruiser Groznyy, and served as the deputy commander of the Baltic Fleet for rear services, reaching the rank of kontr-admiral during his career. Sergei attended the Nakhimov Naval School (Saint Petersburg) in Saint Petersburg, graduating in 1988 and entering the P. S. Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School in Sevastopol.

Pinchuk's initial service as an officer was spent with the Baltic Fleet, where from 1993 he commanded the anti-aircraft missile battery aboard the fleet's flagship, the Sovremenny-class destroyer Russian destroyer Nastoychivy. Over a period of several years he rose through the ranks, serving as commander of the ship's missile and artillery division, then as senior assistant and finally commanding the ship between 2004 and 2007. During this period he took the navy's higher officer classes, graduating in 1999, and further education at the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy, graduating in 2004. He was chief of staff of the Baltic Fleet's surface forces, based at Baltiysk, and from 2007 he was commander of the 105th brigade of ships, and chief of the Kronstadt garrison.

From December 2010 Pinchuk served as chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Leningrad Naval Base. On 22 December 2011 he joined the Black Sea Fleet with an appointment to command the Novorossiysk Naval Base. In February 2014 Pinchuk was promoted to kontr-admiral, and in September 2014 he began studying at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.

Pinchuk graduated from the Academy in 2016, and was appointed acting commander of the Caspian Flotilla in July that year, being confirmed in his position on 20 September. Over his career he has been awarded various departmental orders and medals, including the Order of Military Merit in 2009. He is married, with a son and daughter.