a Russian commander was wounded during the attack on Sevastopol

The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, General Kirill Budanov, claims that as a result of a missile attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in annexed Sevastopol on Friday, September 22, the commander and chief of staff of a group of Russian forces in the Zaporozhye direction were seriously wounded. In total, according to Budanov, at least 9 people died and 16 were wounded.

There is no independent confirmation of this information. The Ministry of Defense of Russia officially reported that one serviceman went missing after the missile attack.

In a comment to “Voice of America”, Budanov, in particular, said: “Among the wounded is the commander of the group, Colonel General (Alexander) Romanchuk, in a very serious condition. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General (Oleg) Tsekov, is unconscious.” At the same time, Budanov did not confirm the reports that appeared in Ukrainian telegram channels about the alleged death of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Sokolov.

The press service of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine, in turn, said that as a result of the operation, which it called the “Crab Trap”, dozens of Russian military personnel were killed and wounded, including “the top management of the fleet.” As stated in the message, the work of the Special Operations Forces made it possible “on time and precisely” to defeat the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet during a meeting of the fleet’s leadership.

This information is not confirmed. The Telegram channel Rybar, close to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, claims that there was no one in the building except for the shift on duty. At the same time, residents of Sevastopol reported that several ambulances arrived at the building after the impact.

The attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was carried out on Friday afternoon. Several rockets hit the building, it was seriously destroyed, the fire was put out for many hours. On Saturday morning, the Russian authorities in Sevastopol again announced the threat of a missile strike.

• In May and June, Russian Telegram channels and even officials claimed that Kirill Budanov himself was killed or seriously wounded in Kyiv. Subsequently, Budanov began to appear in public, thereby showing that he was alive and well.