Denis Valentinovich Berezovsky (Ukrainian: Денис Валентинович Березовський, Russian: Дени́с Валенти́нович Березо́вский; born 15 July 1974) is a rear admiral and the Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. He is also a former commander of the Ukrainian Navy. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Navy by Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov on 1 March 2014, after the acting commander of the Ukrainian Navy Sergei Yeliseyev defected to Russia the same day. After serving for just one day, on 2 March, he defected to the self-declared pro-Russian separatist Crimean government during the 2014 Crimean crisis. On 24 March 2014, the Defense Minister of Russia Sergei Shoigu appointed Berezovsky as the Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander. On 5 March 2014, the Office of the Genera