Fresh humiliation for Putin as he sacks his top naval commander after wave of devastating Ukrainian drone attacks on crumbling Black Sea fleet - and replaces him with nuclear sub expert

Vladimir Putin has put his top nuclear submarine specialist in charge of the Russian Navy following a series of successful Ukrainian drone attacks that sunk several of Moscow's warships. 

Admiral Alexander Moiseev, 61, was made acting commander-in-chief after the Kremlin chief reportedly fired previous incumbent Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, who had held the post for five years.

Yevmenov, also 61, paid the price for the savaging of Russia's Black Sea Fleet by Ukrainian kamikaze marine drones.

Moiseev meanwhile faces an immediate crisis as the fleet's warships have not put to sea for six days amid the terror of more sinkings.  

But other analysts suggest that Moiseev's promotion from commander of the Arctic-based Northern Fleet is meant to send a signal to the West over the threat of nuclear war.

A 'Hero of Russia' - the Kremlin's highest honour - the former nuclear submarine captain was the first man to launch satellites into space from a submerged vessel, firing a Shtil-1 rocker from the K-407 Novomoskovsk in the Barents Sea in July 1998.

Moiseev's entire active career was spent on nuclear submarines and he was known to have tested Russia's latest weapons, with submarines constituting a crucial part of Moscow's 'nuclear triad'.

Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov (right, pictured with Vladimir Putin 2-L) has reportedly been sacked from this position as the Russian Navy's commander-in-chief following a string of successful Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow's warships

Admiral Alexander Moiseev, 61, was made acting commander-in-chief after the dictator abruptly fired previous incumbent Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov

Yevmenov, 61, paid the price for the savaging of Russia 's Black Sea Fleet by Ukrainian kamikaze marine drones

The moment Russian warship Sergey Kotov was hit by a Ukrainian kamikaze sea drone

Ukrainian strike on a Russian landing ship in Novocherkassk

Independent Russian media outlet Vot Tak TV reported: 'The reasons for Yevmenov's resignation were not disclosed, but they seem obvious.

'The complete helplessness of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, which continues to lose combat ships at a rate of one vessel per month in confrontation with Ukrainian naval drones, as well as deep systemic problems in managing the Russian Navy.'

There has not yet been a formal announcement of Moiseev's promotion but this is widely seen as a matter of time.

Last Tuesday the £51 million Sergey Kotov patrol vessel, one of Putin's newest naval ships, was sunk by a flock of unmanned MAGURA V5 attack drones near Feodosia, in occupied Crimea.

Footage purports to show the moment of the major explosion in darkness close to the coast.

The vessel normally has a crew of 80 - and the fate of those on board remains unclear.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said last week that 'The Russian Black Sea Fleet is a symbol of occupation. It cannot be in the Ukrainian Crimea,' in an apparent reference to the attack.

Ukraine's military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said the ship had been hit previously but was destroyed after the overnight attack by maritime drones.

'As for the crew, the details are being clarified. There are dead and wounded. But it is likely that some of the crew managed to evacuate,' he told Ukrainian media.

There was no official response from the Russian defence ministry.

That attack followed weeks after Russia's Caesar Kunikov large landing ship was also destroyed in a similar maritime operation, prompting the Kremlin to dismiss Admiral Viktor Sokolov, 61, from his post as commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet.

A GoPro video, taken by sailors aboard the doomed vessel, showed in shocking detail how the navy men desperately tried to fight off the oncoming drones in an intense 20-minute sea battle before their vessel was destroyed in a fiery explosion. 

The warship was lost on February 14, but the footage was released only last week by Russian Telegram channel FighterBomber. 

The hellish, chaotic scene saw a small group of seamen unloading their weapons into the murky water. Explosions rang out around them as the drones one by one slammed into the ship's hull and lit up the night sky.

Despite the crew letting loose thousands of rounds at the oncoming threat, the Russian battleship was powerless to defend against the flotilla of high-speed, high-explosive drones controlled by Ukrainian operators hundreds of miles away.

No official death toll has emerged but local reports suggest several crew members were lost as the Caesar Kunikov sank. 

Footage purports to show the ship under fire in Crimea, the latest blow to the Russian fleet

Image shows the Sergey Kotov patrol ship, a 308-ft warship that entered service in 2022

Astonishing footage, filmed by a GoPro camera, shows the Russian crew of the Caesar Kunikov large landing ship fighting its last battle with Ukrainian marine drones off the coast of Crimea

Explosions rang out around them as the drones one by one slammed into the ship's hull and lit up the night sky

Russian crew members are seen shooting into the night as Ukrainian drones headed for their ship 

Measuring just 18ft, the unmanned MAGURA V5 drones are capable of delivering a payload of up to 200kg (440lbs) over an operating range of 400km (250 miles) and have proved invaluable in their attacks on Russia's vessels in the Black Sea. 

Russia has lost more than a quarter of its fleet - some 21 vessels - since February 2022, including the early sinking in 2022 of their flagship Moskva in a Neptune missile strike by Ukraine.

The Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol were also blitzed in a missile strike last year.

Now, with the war rumbling into its third year, Ukraine seeks to expand its provision of the 'game-changing' seaborne drones to counter Russian attacks in Crimea.

'Naval drones are a constant need,' a spokesperson for official fundraiser UNITED24 told MailOnline last month.

'Since February 24, Russia has fired over 4,500 missiles at Ukraine, with 20% launched from the sea. After losing 80% of its fleet in 2014 due to Crimea's occupation, Ukraine had no means to counter these attacks.

'However, on October 29, 2022, naval drones marked a turning point by damaging three Russian vessels, including the flagship Admiral Makarov, in a historic first attack carried out exclusively by unmanned vessels.'

They said the small and fast unmanned surface vehicles had 'quickly changed the course of naval warfare' and allowed Ukraine to 'bury... Russian arrogance'.