Ukraine said that the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and 33 other officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on the fleet’s headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia’s defence ministry had yet to respond to requests for comment regarding Ukraine’s claims of killing Sokolov.

Ukraine’s special forces said that the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, and 33 other officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on the fleet’s headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol last week.

Ukraine’s claim to have killed one of Russia’s most senior navy officers came as Russian authorities said on Monday that air defence systems had repelled another Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol in the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Russian air defence units downed a missile near the Belbek military airfield, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on the Telegram messaging app late on Monday.

Earlier, Ukraine’s special forces said that Friday’s attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol was aimed at a meeting of the Russian Navy’s leadership.

“After the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored,” Ukraine’s special forces said.

While the report did not name Sokolov, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, posted the admiral’s name and a photo on social media.

Russia’s defence ministry had yet to respond to requests for comment regarding Ukraine’s claims of killing Sokolov.

After the attack on Friday, Moscow reported that one person was missing.