Russian 1st Rank Frigate Commander Dead after Touting Strikes on Civilians

Mystery is swirling around the circumstances of the death of a notorious Russian military chief.

Igor Krokhmal, a 1st rank frigate commander, who captained several ships during his career, died back in December, although there has been renewed interest in the manner of his passing this week.

The 52-year-old reportedly died “after a long illness,” according to Russian reports, but analysts have pointed out that he was on a hit-list published by Ukraine’s intelligence services.

Allegations that Ukraine had assassinated Krokhmal are unsubstantiated and neither side has commented publicly about the online speculation regarding the nature of his death. Newsweek has reached out by email to Russia’s Foreign Ministry and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense for further information and comment.

Krokhmal had been named as a war criminal by Kyiv, which said that he was among those “who participate in the murders of peaceful citizens of Ukraine and the launch of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.” Ukraine’s intelligence agency, GUR, had published various details about him online, including his home address.

Khrokmal had been particularly reviled in Ukraine after a controversial interview he gave on Russian TV, in which he described how to aim a Zircon missile at a residential home, noting that if it missed its target it would still take out the neighbors.

A social media account called KilledInUkraine on X, formerly Twitter,—which monitors Russian military deaths by tracking Russian news, obituaries, and funeral notices—posted on the site on Monday.

Sharing a photo of the commander, the cryptic caption read: “Russian Captain 1st rank (Colonel in other branches) Igor Krokhmal, commander of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, ‘passed away on 22 December 2023 after a long illness’. He happened to be on the GUR list of war criminals to be eliminated…”

The Crimean Wind news channel on social media site Telegram also shared reports of Khrokhmal’s death in a post on Sunday. The channel uploaded footage of his infamous TV interview, which showed the commander on board his frigate, saying: “For example, a five-story building, we aimed at the entrance and if not this one, then it will definitely fly into the next one.”

Beneath the clip, the news channel wrote: “The commander of the frigate ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ speaks about the accuracy of the hit using the example of a five-story residential building with entrances (a typical target for the Russian army). And he talks about it so casually… P.S. It won’t reach The Hague [International Criminal Court]. Last December, Igor Krokhmal died.”

A channel called InformNapalm, which describes itself as an online intelligence community, also shared the same TV clip on Telegram at the weekend and noted in Ukrainian: “Quite frank comments (which targets he chooses for missile strikes) from the Russian war criminal, the commander of the frigate ‘Admiral Gorshkov’, Captain 1 rank Igor Krokhmal (Russian: Krokhmal Igor Mykhailovych, 17.02.1972). I lived at the address: Murmansk region, Severomorsk [full details including his apartment and building number were included]… Car: Toyota, Land Cruiser, black [registration number was given]. It is on the sanctions list of the NAKC and the GUR lists (targets for the punishment/liquidation of war criminals).”

The channel added a graphic depicting a check-mark, and wrote: “Thank you GUR, it has already been worked out. He died before the new year.”

Ukrainian media company Hromadske reported on the death of the commander on Sunday, saying: “A number of Russian media, such as Info24 and SeverPost.ru, wrote about this at the end of December, indicating that he allegedly died as a result of a long illness. At the same time, the International Intelligence Community InformNapalm reported yesterday, February 10, that Krokhmal died ‘before the New Year,’ when the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine worked on him.”

According to the birth-date provided by GUR, Krokhmal was 51, but most media reports, including Russian sources, stated that he was 52. He died on December 22 and his funeral took place in St. Petersburg later that month.

Photos of his funeral service were shared on the social media page of Russia’s naval newspaper, On Guard of the Arctic – newspaper of the Northern Fleet.

The report said: “Today, at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, military sailors saw off Captain 1st Rank Igor Krokhmal, who for many years commanded missile and anti-submarine ships of the Northern Fleet, on his last trip. At the head of the crew of the first frigate of Project 22350, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov, he ensured successful testing of the Zircon hypersonic missile system.”

Krokhmal had received various state awards for courage and merit, the article added, saying he was buried “next to veterans, submarine heroes and other honored figures of the Navy,” with many senior figures attending to “see off the commander on his final journey and express condolences to his family.”

“The funeral took place with military honors under a three-shot rifle salvo,” the account continued. “The farewell ceremony ended with a solemn march of the banner platoon to the song ‘Varyag’ performed by a military orchestra. According to tradition, the officer’s dagger and the state flag that covered the coffin were presented to the commander’s widow.”

The report did not reveal how Krokhmal had died.