After heavy attack on crimean headquarters: Is the Black Sea Fleet commander unharmed?

The Ukrainian military intends to review the latest images to confirm their previous report of the alleged death of the head of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The Special Operations Unit of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense shared this information on Facebook. On Monday, the Ukrainian military had announced that Viktor Sokolov, the fleet commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, had been killed in the attack on the headquarters in Sevastopol last Friday.

However, Moscow presented images Tuesday purporting to show Sokolov at a meeting led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Kyiv insists that 34 Russian officers were killed in the cruise missile attack, including Sokolov. Although many of the victims have not yet been identified, military leadership sources initially confirmed that Sokolov was among the casualties. In light of the images released by Moscow in which Sokolov appears to be alive, the Ukrainian military will re-examine the information as the German news website n-tv.de reports.

This information comes from a party to the conflict and has not yet been independently verified / confirmed. For this reason, the report must be evaluated with reservations. In war, it can be advantageous for parties to make false statements about the course of the conflict in order to strengthen their own position or weaken the position of the opponent.

Image: Flickr, CC0 license, via Pexels (image size changed)

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