26 September 2023 , 13:49
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The commander of the Black Sea Fleet appeared to 'turn up' at a meeting of Russian top brass - despite being reported dead.
Admiral Viktor Sokolov seemed to blink while attending the meeting on Tuesday, the day after Ukraine announced he had been killed in a missile strike.
But he was not seen speaking, and sat in a chair that looked suspiciously different to other naval commanders.
His surprise appearance came after Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on claims that Sokolov had been killed. He said no information had been provided from the Defence Ministry.
Black Sea Fleet Admiral Viktor Sokolov appeared to participate in a meeting of the Board of the Russian Defence Ministry today (MOD/east2west news)Ukraine had claimed on Monday that Sokolov was one of 34 officers killed in a devastating missile strike on the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. One video from the scene showed the moment a second Storm Shadow missile hit the already-burning building, leaving devastation its wake.
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Admiral Viktor Sokolov appeared to be at a meeting on Tuesday despite his reported death, likely due to video editing trickery (MOD/east2west news)
Ukraine said 105 Russian military personnel had also been wounded in the strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters (Crimean Wind/east2west news)It is likely that the commander's apparent attendance at Tuesday's meeting was the result of misleading video editing, and that old clips of of the commander had been superimposed on the new footage. Online Putin loyalists however seized on the footage to claim Ukraine had been caught lying. Russian telegram channel Grey Zone said: “We can say that the enemy’s statement [from] the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces that the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, died during the destruction of the Fleet headquarters building in Sevastopol is not true”
Military Informant channel meanwhile said: “The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, appeared at today’s meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defence. Earlier, the Ukrainian media and intelligence claimed that Sokolov allegedly died as a result of a strike on the fleet headquarters in Sevastopol. The point is that the command staff has not been in the headquarters building for a long time, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces is also well aware of. So no commander….could have died there [nor dozens of officers].” Ukraine also stated that 105 Russian military personnel had been wounded in this week's strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters.