Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that it was “clarifying” whether the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had died in a recent missile strike on Moscow’s naval headquarters in Crimea, acknowledging uncertainty after Russia released a video appearing to show him at a meeting of top defense officials.
The authenticity and timing of the video released by Russia’s Ministry of Defense could not immediately be verified, but Russian state news media said the meeting took place on Tuesday.
The clip, posted on Telegram, appears to show the fleet’s chief, Adm. Viktor Sokolov, taking part in a video conference with the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, and other top military officials. The video is edited to show Admiral Sokolov multiple times at the meeting, possibly to offer evidence he is alive. There is a Sept. 26 time stamp on the clip which matches the date in the video’s metadata.
Ukraine’s special operations forces claimed on Monday to have killed Admiral Sokolov in the attack last week, along with 33 other Russian officers. After Russia released its video of the meeting, Ukraine’s special operations forces said in a statement that, since the “Russians were forced to publish a response with Sokolov allegedly alive,” it was “clarifying the information” over the admiral.
“According to available sources, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet is among the dead,” the statement said. “Many have not yet been identified due to the fragmentation of body parts.” It was not clear how Ukraine could determine the precise outcome of the strike, which took place in Russian-held territory.
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