🔴 Live: ‘Senior’ Russian naval officers killed in HQ attack in Crimea, says Ukraine

Issued on: 23/09/2023 – 10:38Modified: 23/09/2023 – 10:45

2 min

10:10am: Ukraine says ‘senior’ Russian naval officers killed in HQ attack

Ukraine on Saturday said dozens including senior Russian navy commanders died or were injured when it staged a missile attack on Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol a day earlier. 

Ukraine struck the headquarters on Friday, sparking a huge fire. 

“The details of the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and the result is dozens of dead and wounded occupants, including senior fleet commanders,” the Ukrainian army said. It said the strike happened when “a meeting of the Russian navy’s leadership” was going on. 

Kyiv’s intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed the attack killed “at least nine people” in comments to Voice of America, including generals. 

FRANCE 24 was not able to verify this information. 

Budanov declined to say if Western-made missiles were used in the attack and Russia has said that one of its servicemen was missing after the attack.

Ukraine has vowed to take back Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.  

9:43am: ‘Danger’ of new Ukrainian attack in Sevastopol, says Russian-installed governor 

The Russian-installed head of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea warned of a possible new Ukrainian missile attack on Saturday, a day after Kyiv hit Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the city. 

“Attention! Missile danger!” Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram. “Close your windows properly and stay away from them,” he said, asking commuters to get out of cars and public transport and seek shelter in a safe place. 

“Close your windows properly and stay away from them,” he said, asking commuters to get out of cars and public transport and seek shelter in a safe place.

But shortly afterwards he said the “danger is over”.

Kyiv struck the Russian naval headquarters on Friday, sparking a huge fire and leaving at least one Russian serviceman missing.

Key developments from Friday, September 22:

Canada will give an extra C$650 million ($482 million) in military aid to Ukraine over the next three years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Canadian Parliament on Friday during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine carried out a missile strike Friday on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, a Russian official said. The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, didn’t offer any details, saying only that emergency services had been dispatched to the site of the strike and that there was no information about casualties. Ukraine did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)