Russian Black Sea commander shown working after Ukraine said it killed him. A day after Ukrainian special forces claimed to have murdered Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and a top navy official attended a video conference on Tuesday.
In a video conference with military Minister Sergei Shoigu and other admirals and army leaders, Sokolov appeared in Russian military ministry footage and photos.
Russian state television aired it. On Monday, Ukraine’s special forces alleged they killed Sokolov, Moscow’s senior admiral in Crimea, and 33 other officers in a missile strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol last week.
On Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov referred reporters to the military ministry when he declined to comment on the Ukrainian accusation.
In the ministry’s video, Shoigu stated over 17,000 Ukrainian troops were killed in September, and over 2,700 weaponry, including seven American Bradley combat vehicles, were destroyed. “The Ukrainian armed forces are suffering serious losses along the entire front line,” Shoigu said, adding that the counter-offensive had failed.
“The US and its allies arm Ukraine’s armed forces, and the Kyiv regime slaughters untrained soldiers in senseless attacks,” Shoigu added.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive has failed to win land from Russian soldiers, which hold 17.5% of internationally recognized Ukraine.
Russia has gained 35 square miles from Ukraine in the previous month, while Ukrainian troops have gained 16 square miles, according to a Sept. 19 Belfer Center report at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
