VLADIVOSTOK. April 20 (Interfax) - Russian Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Sergei Avakyants is on vacation before he is due to be discharged from active duty, having reached the age limit for service in the Russian Armed Forces, the fleet press service said on Thursday.
"He turned 65 on April 6. He is still on the Russian Defense Ministry's staff. With the consent of the Russian Defense Ministry, he will head a central body overseeing military sports and patriotic education centers, created on the orders of the [president]," the press service said.
Avakyants will take charge of the headquarters supervising military sports and patriotic education centers, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Representative to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev said on April 19.
Twelve regions - Buryatia, the Donetsk People's Republic, Kalmykia, Tatarstan, Chechnya, Khabarovsk Territory, the Belgorod, Kemerovo, Pskov, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region - have been chosen to host the pilot project of military sports and patriotic education centers.