Russian Black Sea Fleet commander appears at Defense Ministry meeting after Ukraine reports his death
Russian Admiral Viktor Sokolov, who commands the Russian Black Sea Fleet, took part in a Defense Ministry meeting, appearing in photos and videos posted by the ministry on September 26.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not commented on the possible death of Sokolov, saying that such inquiries should be directed to the Defense Ministry. “We didn’t get any information from the Defense Ministry, that’s specifically their prerogative, and we don’t have anything to say about it,” said Peskov, as cited by Interfax.
On September 25, the Ukrainian military said that the Black Sea Fleet commander had been killed as a result of an attack on the fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, but didn’t provide any evidence. Independent sources couldn’t confirm this information.
Update: Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces (SSO) reported that they are clarifying information about Viktor Sokolov. “Since Russians felt that they urgently needed to post a response with the allegedly alive Sokolov, our units are clarifying the information. This is part of the procedure to collect information about the operation’s results,” the SSO reported.
