Russia’s seemingly resurrected admiral has reappeared for a second time since Ukraine claimed he was killed in a missile strike.
On Monday, Kyiv said that the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Sokolov, was among 34 officers killed in a missile strike on Sevastopol, Crimea.
Witnesses’ video and photographs, on top of satellite imagery, show the headquarters of the fleet visibly damaged.
Yet Russian state media would broadcast the next day footage alleging to show Sokolov alive, prompting Ukraine to say it was ‘clarifying’ whether he was dead.
Appearing once again very much alive and well, Sokolov was all smiles as he spoke to reporters ‘today’ at a ceremony for the Black Sea Fleet’s football team.
Local news outlet First Sevastopol published footage of a press conference in which Sokolov responded to a reporter’s question seemingly about the assault.
‘What happened to us?’ he says. ‘Nothing happened to us. Life goes on.’
He does not comment, however, on how 33 of his crewmates died in the blast.
In a second ‘exclusive’ video aired by Zvezda, a TV network run by the Russian Ministry of Defence, the admiral boasts his fleet is ‘successfully fulfilling the tasks that the command has set for it’.
He said the 810th Marine Brigade, the Black Sea Fleet’s infantry unit, has also been awarded the Order of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov.
The top military decoration is named after the 18th-century naval commander who never lost a battle and was made the patron saint of the Russian navy.
‘You know that the feats of our marine Infantry are practically never off the screens of central television,’ Sokolov added.
But none of the unverified footage is dated, with the press claiming Sokolov spoke during a ceremony honouring the Chernomorets Sevastopol after winning the Russian Armed Forces Championship.
However, the Crimean Football Union reported the team won the tournament on September 18.
First Sevastopol quoted Sokolov as allegedly saying the ceremony was ‘cancelled purely for busy reasons and the event had to be postponed for several days’.
FC Chernomorets Sevastopol shared several photographs of Sokolov at the ceremony on the club’s Telegram account today. He can be seen hoisting a trophy into the air to celebrate the club’s victory.
It said the event had been held at the Yekaterininsky Hall of the Black Sea Fleet Officers’ House.
‘Today, a ceremonial event was held where the Black Sea Fleet Commander, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, awarded the football team,’ the club said in a post.
‘The players thanked the Black Sea Fleet commander for his active participation in the life of the football club and presented a commemorative ball with the autographs of the champions,’ the team added.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russia-installed governor of Sevastopol, said the 810th Brigade had been presented with the military decoration in a Telegram post on August 29.
Ukraine’s special operations forces claimed Monday to have killed Sokolov in last week’s attack.
But yesterday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence posted an image of Sokolov attending a meeting with top defence officials remotely.
Accompanying video aired by state media is heavily edited to show the commander multiple times.
Only five minutes before this, TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters he ‘does not have information about the alleged death of Black Sea Fleet Commander Sokolov’.
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