'If he’s dead, it’s good news for everybody': Ukraine's MoD on death rumors of Russian Black Sea Fleet commander
Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The likely death of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Sokolov, would be good news and evidence of the de-occupation of Ukrainian territory, according to an interview of Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov with CNN.
As the news agency notes, the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense "neither confirmed nor denied" the death of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet as a result of a missile strike by Ukrainian forces on the occupant's headquarters in Sevastopol.
"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," emphasized Umerov.
Background
On September 25th, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) provided details on the losses suffered by the Russians following the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
According to the SOF, 34 officers were killed, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded.
Today, on September 26th, the Russian Ministry of Defense released footage that allegedly shows Sokolov participating in a staff meeting.
Following this, the Special Operations Forces stated that they were still clarifying information regarding the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
