Ihor Tenyukh

Ihor Yosypovych Tenyukh (Тенюх Ігор Йосипович) is an admiral and the former commander of Ukrainian Navy.

Biography
In 1982 Tenyukh graduated from the M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School, Leningrad. He began his career as a torpedo boat officer.

1983 - 1991– commander of roadstead mine-sweeper, executive officer of seagoing mine-sweeper, commander of seagoing mine-sweeper, chief of armament and equipment stores department on a mine and anti-submarine armament base.

1991 – as a member of the Defense and State Security Commission of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament), he participated in the development of the bill on the creation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

1991-1995 – senior officer of maintenance of combat actions department of the Naval agency of Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, chief of department of command (management) directions of the Navy of the Main staff of the Armed forces of Ukraine, chief of department of directions of Main operational agency of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

1994 - graduated from Foreign Language Institute of the USA Department of Defense, and in 1997 – faculty of preparation of officers of operational-strategic level of National Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

1997 - 2005 - commander of surface ships brigade and commander of combined arms squadron of the Ukrainian Naval Forces.

2002 – commander of the annual activation of the joint multilateral naval cooperation Black Sea Force BLACKSEAFOR.

From beginning of November 2005 – deputy chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

With its decree #252/2006 dated from March 23, 2006 the President of Ukraine appointed Rear Admiral Ihor Tenyukh to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On August 22, 2008, Tenyukh was promoted from Vice Admiral to the rank of Admiral.

For persistent and excellent service rear admiral Ihor Tenyukh was awarded with orders, medals and departmental rewards.

Tenyukh was responsible for ordering Ukrainian naval vessels to block the entrance of the Russian Navy to the bay of Sevastopol, in response to the 2008 South Ossetia War. No ships were, in fact, blocked.

On March 19, 2010, President Viktor Yanukovich dismissed Tenyukh from his position.