Admiral Viktor Sokolov, commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, appears to be Schrodinger’s admiral, alive according to Moscow, dead according to Kyiv, with no clarity as to who may be right. The real significance of the missile strike on his headquarters, though, is not so much whether it did kill him, but what it says about Ukrainian goals and capabilities.
On Friday, Su-24M bombers of Ukraine’s 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade launched British-supplied storm shadow cruise missiles at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. Some were apparently jammed or shot down, but two slammed into the building, leaving it in flames.
Kyiv hopes enough drones and missiles get through to deliver the message that there are no safe havens
The Russians claimed that there had been only one fatality, but Ukrainian military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov, countered that at least nine people were killed and 16 wounded, including Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, the commander of Russian forces along southern front.
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