Resurrected Russian Admiral Exposes Startling Truth in Exclusive Video Interview
Russian admiral supposedly killed in Ukrainian attack reemerges in video interview, raising doubts about Kyiv's claims
The Russian admiral, whom Ukrainian forces claimed to have died in a strike on occupied Crimea last week, has emerged in a video posted by a Russian military channel on Wednesday. This is the second video released in as many days that has raised additional skepticism about Kyiv's claim. In the video, Viktor Sokolov, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was questioned by a reporter regarding the missile attack on the fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, which Ukraine alleged resulted in his death.
Sokolov expressed that the Black Sea Fleet is effectively achieving the assigned objectives, as stated in the video released by Zvezda News, the Russian military's media outlet on Telegram. The video was released on Wednesday, but CNN is unable to confirm the interview's specific date or location as it lacks sufficient details.
Sokolov also mentioned the "Order of Ushakov" award received by the 810th Marine Brigade of Russia in the video. According to Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, this award was presented on August 29th.
The interview was released a day after the Russian defense ministry published a video showing Sokolov seemingly attending a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other military officials.
A video published Tuesday showed Sokolov appearing to attend a Russian defense ministry meeting.
The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video on Tuesday, where a man resembling Sokolov was seen participating in a meeting through a video conference. The nametape on his uniform displayed Sokolov V. N., and his screen showed the Cyrillic letters "ЧФ," standing for the Black Sea Fleet. CNN was unable to verify whether this individual is indeed Sokolov, the exact time of the meeting, or the location where his video appearance was filmed.
The Kremlin initially declined to confirm Sokolov's status, stating that they had not received any information from the Ministry of Defense. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman, remarked on Tuesday that it falls within the ministry's jurisdiction and they have no comment on the matter. However, the following day, Peskov altered their statement and acknowledged that Sokolov had indeed participated in the defense ministry meeting.
"Yesterday, Peskov informed reporters that the fleet commander had participated in the meeting," said Ukraine's new defense minister Rustem Umerov during an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour from Kyiv on Tuesday, neither confirming nor denying the strike's alleged killing of Sokolov.
"Sokolov is currently in our temporarily occupied territories, which he should not inhabit. Hence, if he is deceased, it brings positive news to everyone as we continue to liberate our territory," revealed Umerov to Amanpour.
Prior to the release of the two videos, the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces previously announced that the attack on Friday, which marks another audacious assault on the occupied Crimea peninsula, claimed the lives of 34 individuals, including Sokolov.
Reports from state media outlet TASS at the time indicated that Russia appointed Sokolov as the new commander for its Black Sea Fleet based in Crimea in August 2022.
