Oleksiy Leonidovich Neizhpapa – Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2020 – present), Vice Admiral.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on October 9, 1975 in Sevastopol, Crimea.
He studied in:
- Sevastopol Naval Institute. Later he received education at the operational and tactical level;
- National Defense University of Ukraine.
Career
In the period from 1997 to 2000, he served as commander of an anti-aircraft missile battery, which was part of the rocket and artillery warhead of the frigate called “Sevastopol”.
During 2000-2006, he served, successively holding positions from senior assistant to the commander of the corvette “Lutsk” to the commander of the sea minesweeper “Cherkasy”.
He also served as the chief of the marching staff on the command ship “Slavutych”.
In the period from 2006 to 2007, he was deputy commander of the Southern Naval Base.
During 2007-2008, he served as Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the 1st Brigade of Surface Ships, which was part of the Naval Operations Center of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine). From 2008 to 2012, he headed the association.
From July 2012 to 2015, he served as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Command of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the period from 2013 to 2014, he temporarily served as head of the Nakhimov Naval Academy.
In the period from January 2015 to 2019, he served as Deputy Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for combat training and head of the combat training department of the Command of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From April to June 2020, he served as Deputy Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On June 11, 2020, by decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, he was appointed commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On April 16, 2022, Zelenskyy awarded Neizhpapa the military rank of vice admiral after a successful operation in the Black Sea, during which the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation (RF), was destroyed.
Awards
On August 24, 2012, Neizhpapa held the medal “For Military Service to Ukraine”, and on June 17, 2022, he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III degree.
