A Ukrainian missile attack on the fleet’s headquarters in the Crimean town of Sevastopol last week reportedly killed Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and 33 other officers.
Russian commander killed in attack: As Russian officials said on Monday that air defence systems had thwarted a second Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula that Russia has annexed, Ukraine claimed to have killed one of Russia’s most senior navy officers.
According to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol appointed by Moscow, Russian air defence units shot down a missile close to the Belbek military airfield late on Monday.
The Ukrainian special forces issued a statement confirming that they attacked the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday, intending to disrupt a meeting of the Russian Navy’s top brass.
“34 officers, including the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander, killed following the attack on the fleet’s headquarters. 105 other occupiers suffered injuries. The headquarters structure cannot be repaired, according to the special forces of Ukraine.
The report did not mention Sokolov’s name, but Anton Gerashchenko, a counsellor to Ukraine’s interior minister, shared the admiral’s name and a photo on social media.
“Ukraine Alleges Russian Commander’s Death Amid Rising Tensions”
Russia’s military ministry has not yet respond to requests for comment regarding Ukraine’s allegations that Sokolov was kill.
According to Moscow, they reported a single individual missing following the attack on Friday.
Even while Russia and Ukraine occasionally exaggerate enemy casualties while keeping quiet about their own, the Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) asserted that Moscow would find it simple to refute Kiev’s claim if it were untrue.
“ISW has yet to observe confirmation that these Ukrainian strikes killed Sokolov or any other high-ranking Russian commanders, although the Russian command would be able to easily disprove Ukrainian reporting if these reports are false,” the think tank stated.
The ISW said, “Reported deaths of Sokolov and other Russian officers would cause significant disruptions in command and control in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”
According to the ISW, Ukrainian special forces also asserted that they had killed 62 Russian military personnel during a previous missile attack on Sevastopol, which targeted the Russian landing ship Minsk and a submarine. The Minsk was scheduled to enter combat duty the following day.
In September 2022, Sokolov was named fleet commander for the Black Sea.
Media reports suggest that several months after Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine started, Ukraine sank the missile cruiser Moskva, which served as the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, leading to the removal of his predecessor from office.
According to reports, Sokolov and 33 other Russian officers have died. This is a significant increase from the number of fatalities and injuries reported in the attack on Friday that left the fleet’s headquarters in ruins, according to Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service, who spoke to Voice of America on Saturday.
Budanov similarly described Alexander Romanchuk, a Russian general in charge of the country’s forces on the crucial southeast front line, as being “in a very serious condition.”
The military of Ukraine provided new information regarding the incident on Friday.
According to the report, the air force launched 12 attacks on the Black Sea Fleet’s command centre, focusing on locations with high concentrations of people, military hardware, and weaponry. v
As its soldiers continue a nearly four-month-old counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory, Kyiv has increased attacks in the Black Sea and on the Crimean Peninsula.
Later on Monday, the Russian defence ministry reported that its air defences had successfully thwarted at least 11 drone assaults from the Ukraine over the Russian provinces of Belgorod and Kursk.
The ministry reported that it shot down four drones over Kursk and downed seven over the Belgorod region in several separate Telegram statements.
Drone strikes on Russian territory, including the capital Moscow, have increased recently.