Former NATO commander James Stavridis has deemed the death of Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet commander, Admiral Viktor Sokolov a “remarkable achievement” for Ukraine.
On Monday, the Ukrainian government reported a successful long-range missile strike on the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet headquarters in Crimea. The strike injured over 100 naval personnel and killed a further 34, including Admiral Sokolov, leader of the fleet and an extremely high-value target for Ukraine, according to Kyiv.
“Since the Russian landing ship Minsk was to go on combat duty the day after the attack, the personnel were present,” a statement from Ukraine’s special operation forces read, according to Belarusian media outlet Nexta.
“Irrecoverable losses amounted to 62 occupiers. After the defeat of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers were killed, among them the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov. Another 105 Russians were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored.”
In response to a post about the story from Nexta on X, formerly Twitter, Stavridis wrote on Monday: “This is a remarkable achievement by Ukraine eliminating a very significant Russian military leader and many of his subordinates,” Stavridis wrote in a post. “I believe you have to go back to WWII to find [another] admiral killed in combat.”
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Several admirals were recorded as being killed during enemy engagements during World War II, including the likes of the U.S. Navy’s Daniel J. Callaghan and Theodore E. Chandler.
Stavridis a retired Navy admiral who served in various roles in the military branch since the 1970s, served as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in Europe from 2009 to 2013. He has frequently weighed in on developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict with his expert perspective.
The Russian government has yet to confirm Sokolov’s death and its comments about the strike in Crimea have clashed with those out of Kyiv. In its initial statement on the situation, Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday said that the attack had damaged its Black Sea headquarters but also said that it had only killed one soldier.
It later amended that statement, saying that the soldier was merely missing, not confirmed dead. Throughout the invasion, Russia’s statements on similar matters have frequently painted them as less impactful compared to the statements released by Ukraine.
As the invasion has continued, the Crimean Peninsula has become a major target for Ukrainian forces, both for its strategic value to the Russian Navy and for Kyiv’s desire to retake the territory. Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that was widely condemned and unrecognized on the world stage.