UNDER SIEGE
Dramatic moment Putin’s Black Sea Fleet HQ blitzed killing nine top Russian military leaders in daring Ukraine strike
AT least nine Russian military leaders have been killed after Putin’s Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters was blitzed, Ukraine has claimed.
A new video shows the moment when a second Storm Shadow missile hit the already-burning building in Sevastopol.
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At least nine people were killed and 16 wounded in Friday's attack, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
"Among the wounded is the commander of the group, Colonel-General (Alexander) Romanchuk, in a very serious condition," the spymaster told Voice of America.
"The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General (Oleg) Tsekov, is unconscious.
“The number of injured regular servicemen who are not employees of the headquarters is still being determined.
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“These are military personnel who are on duty, security, and so on — they are not included in the list that I announced.”
Some reports say Black Sea Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov was also hit and killed, but there has been no confirmation.
There were suggestions he was “missing”.
Solkolov was handpicked by Putin a year ago to take over from Admiral Igor Osipov after the humiliating sinking of the fleet’s flagship, the cruiser Moskva, sunk by a Ukrainian Neptune missile.
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Russia has refrained from giving details on the killed and wounded, and its main news bulletins failed to mention the humiliating strike in annexed Crimea.
Russian air defences were again today at work in and around Russian-held Crimean city of Sevastopol, the main naval port in the peninsula.
There were reports of incoming missiles, with one missile had been shot down
Romanchuk is commander of Russian forces in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, and was promoted to the rank of colonel-general in 2023.
Tsekov is the commander of the 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, part of the Coastal Forces of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.
Russian war cheerleaders are demanding reprisal attacks on Ukrainian command posts
Rybar Telegram channel warned: “As long as there are no strikes on control and command centres, the intensity of the AFU attacks will increase.
“Meanwhile, in Kyiv, the work of all Ukrainian structures responsible for regular raids, such as the GUR and the SBU [intelligence services] , is proceeding without interruption.”
War analyst Sergei Mardan, a columnist for Komsomolskaya Pravda, said: “The strike to the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol is a crushing blow to the entire Russian elite, which is seriously committed to freezing the conflict in the autumn of 2023.
“They still don't want to fight.
“They agree to any, the most shameful conditions of a truce.
“They still consider [the start of war on] February 24, 2022 a catastrophic mistake by Putin and intend to do everything to convince him of this.
“They see a ‘limited’ military defeat of Russia as the ideal way.”
He claimed this was the wrong route for Russia.
“Our enemies will force us to fight, if only because they do not agree to a ‘limited' defeat.
“They intend to defeat the Russian army and bring the Russian government to its knees.”
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Budanov declined to confirm Russian claims that Storm Shadow missiles - provided to Kyiv by Britain and France - had been used to the fleet HQ.
"Here I have to refrain from answering, I think you should understand me," he said.
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