Budanov: 9 people killed in attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol

Ukraine's attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol has killed at least 9 people and wounded 16. Russian generals are among them.

Source: Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU); Voice of America

Quote from Budanov: "The group's commander, Colonel-General (Aleksandr) Romanchuk, is among the wounded and in a serious condition. The chief of staff, Lieutenant General (Oleg) Tsekov, is unconscious.

The number of injured regular servicemen who are not staff members is still being established. These are soldiers on duty, security guards, and so on – they are not included in the list that I've told you."

Details: Aleksandr Romanchuk is the commander of the Russian forces on the Zaporizhzhia front and was promoted to the rank of colonel general in 2023. Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov is the commander of the 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Coastal Forces of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.

At the same time, Budanov did not confirm reports of the alleged death of Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. DIU has no information on his condition.

In addition, the DIU chief did not answer the question of whether Western-made missiles were used in the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

Meanwhile, by Friday evening, federal TV channels had stopped mentioning that the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in annexed Sevastopol had been damaged by a missile strike, the Agents.Media publication writes.

While in the first hours after the attack, they talked about the aftermath of the attack and even showed a picture of the city; by the evening, even the mention of the headquarters began to disappear from the news.

For example, on the First Channel, in the 18:00 and 21:00 newscasts, the host read out the following text: "The Ministry of Defence reported that the Kyiv regime attempted to attack the territory of Crimea. Five missiles were shot down by our air defence forces. We also intercepted 10 HIMARS missiles".

The BBC's correspondent in Moscow, Steve Rosenberg, also noted this.

"Just watched the main evening news bulletin Vremya on Russia’s Channel One (a 50-minute programme.) I didn’t hear anything about the missile strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol," he tweeted.

Background:

On the afternoon of 22 September, the Russians claimed there had been a missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

The Russian Ministry of Defence reported one serviceman missing after the strike, although it had previously reported one killed.

On Friday evening, media outlets shared photos showing a missile flying towards the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on 22 September. 

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