Admiral Ruskov has taken the liberty of giving himself a promotion. When he introduces himself to Captain Chandler he says that before the collapse of the Russian government he was a Vice Admiral in the Russian Navy's Red Banner Northern Fleet, which is the Russian Navy's Arctic Ocean fleet responsible for patrolling and defending Russian's northern shores along the Arctic Ocean, as well as the north Atlantic in the vicinity of Norway and Finland. A Vice Admiral in the Russian Navy has two stars on their shoulder epaulets and one thick stripe with two standard stripes on the sleeve. Ruskov is wearing four stars on his shoulder epaulets and has one thick stripe with four standard stripes on his sleeve, this is the rank insignia of the Admiral of the Fleet, the highest ranking officer in the fleet. There are only five Admirals of the Fleet, one for each of Russia's fleets: Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet, Black Sea Fleet, Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Fleet.