By Alexander Khrebet,
KYIV Ukraine
The Russian Black Sea Fleet
commander was killed along with 33 other officers in a Sept. 22 strike on
the fleet's headquarters in occupied Sevastopol, southwest
Crimea, Ukraine's military said.Dense black smoke rises above the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in occupied Sevastopol, southwestern Crimea, following the Ukrainian missile strike on Sept. 22.
Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the
Russian Black Sea Fleet commander, was among those killed in the missile strike
that also injured 105 Russian soldiers and left the headquarters building in
ruins, according to Ukraine's Special Operation
Forces.
The Special Operation Forces
claimed responsibility for the attack on the headquarters, which reportedly was
struck with at least two U.K.-provided Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
Satellite imagery by Planet
Labs revealed extensive damage the strike caused to the building. Both Ukraine
and Russia confirmed that the headquarters was struck following the attack.Admiral Viktor Sokolov
The next day after the attack,
Military Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with the Voice of America
that at least nine people were killed and 16 were injured in the strike.
Budanov said several senior
Russian officers were wounded in the attack, including generals Alexander
Romanchuk and Oleg Tsekov, leading Russian troops in occupied parts of
Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
In recent months, there were
several high-profile strikes on Russian forces in the area, including one on
Sept. 13 targeting a Russian shipyard using marine drones and missiles that damaged landing
craft and a submarine, both of which were undergoing repairs at the time of the
strike.
Meanwhile, the Special
Operations Forces Command reported that Russian forces suffered 62 casualties
in the Sept. 13 strike against the Minsk landing craft docked in the Sevastopol
shipyard.
The Minsk's crew was on board
when the attack occurred as the ship was scheduled to leave the dock the next
day, according to Ukraine's military.
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