[2][3] On 24 March 2014, the Defense Minister of Russia Sergei Shoigu appointed Berezovsky as the Russian Black Sea Fleet deputy commander.

[11][12] In the morning of 2 March 2014, Berezovsky was dismissed from the post of commander of the Ukrainian Navy after he issued orders to lay down arms.

[16][17][18][19] Dmitry Tymchuk, the head of the Center of Military and Political Research, suggested at his Facebook page that Berezovsky pledged his allegiance when his family was kidnapped and held hostage.

[2] Berezovsky then unsuccessfully tried to entice the officers over to the newly proclaimed Crimean fleet which he had been appointed head of — assuring them that they would retain their ranks and there would be no interruption of salary payments.

[2] He (then) claimed that "Viktor Yanukovych is the legitimately elected president of Ukraine," and that thus it would be no breach of oath if they served Crimea since "the seizure of power in Kyiv was orchestrated from abroad" (referring to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution).