Last week's strike against the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol killed 34 Russian officers, including the fleet's commander, and injured 105 more soldiers, the Special Operations Forces Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Sept. 25.
Although reports of the death of the Black Sea Fleet's commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov emerged earlier, they had not been confirmed by official Ukrainian sources until now.
The Sevastopol headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was hit in a Ukrainian missile strike on Sept. 22. Satellite imagery by Planet.com revealed extensive damage the strike caused to the building.
According to Sky News, the attack was carried out using long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
Both Kyiv and Moscow confirmed that the headquarters was hit in the attack. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, later said in an interview with the Voice of America that at least nine people were killed and 16 were injured in the strike.
Budanov noted that the list of wounded included senior officers such as commander of Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia Oblast General Alexander Romanchuk and General Oleg Tsekov.
The Special Operations Forces Command also reported that an earlier strike against the Minsk landing craft docked in the Sevastopol shipyard on Sept. 13 caused 62 Russian casualties.
According to the U.K. Defense Ministry, the attack against Sevastopol's Sevmorzavod repair facility led to the destruction of the Ropucha-class Minsk landing ship and seriously damaged the Kilo-class Rostov-on-Don submarine, both of which were undergoing repairs at the time of the strike.
Elsa Court
(Updated: )
