Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Appears on Video Amid Ukrainian Claims of His Death

In the imagery shared by the defence ministry, Sokolov was depicted alongside several other fleet commanders in a video conference, seemingly participating in an in-person meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other high-ranking military officials, although he did not speak during the session. The exact date of the video’s recording remains unclear.

Ukraine’s special forces had reported on Monday that Admiral Sokolov, along with 33 other officers, had been killed in a missile attack launched last week on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the port of Sevastopol, located in Crimea—a territory seized from Ukraine in 2014.

In response to the Russian video featuring Admiral Sokolov, Ukrainian special forces stated Telegram, saying, “Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish a response with Sokolov allegedly alive, our units are clarifying the information.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refrained from commenting on the Ukrainian claim and directed reporters to the Russian defence ministry for further information.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, interviewed by CNN, neither confirmed nor denied Sokolov’s death. However, he remarked that if the reports of Sokolov’s demise were accurate, it would be viewed as a positive development. Umerov stated, “He is in our temporary occupied territories…he should not be there at all. So, if he’s dead, it’s good news for everybody that we are continuing to de-occupy our territory.”

In the video conference, Defense Minister Shoigu provided an update, stating that over 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in September. He also claimed that more than 2,700 weapons, including seven American Bradley fighting vehicles, had been destroyed. It’s important to note that Reuters could not independently verify these battlefield claims.

Shoigu continued, asserting that the Ukrainian armed forces had sustained significant losses across the entire front line. He remarked that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had not yielded any substantial results thus far. Shoigu also criticized the United States and its allies for supplying weapons to Ukraine, accusing the Kyiv regime of deploying inexperienced soldiers in fruitless assaults.

Kyiv’s counteroffensive has yet to capture significant territory from Russian forces, who currently control approximately 17.5% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized land.

According to a September 19 report by the Belfer Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Russia had gained 35 square miles (91 square kilometres) of land from Ukraine over the past month, while Ukrainian forces had retaken 16 square miles (41 square kilometres) from Russian forces.