In a significant and targeted attack, top Russian military commanders were wounded on Friday in a Ukrainian missile strike aimed at the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea.
Among those “severely wounded” in the strike were Russia’s Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov, according to Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukrainian intelligence, as reported by Pentagon correspondent Ostap Yarysh from Voice of America news.
Budanov revealed that the attack resulted in the tragic loss of at least nine Russian military personnel, with an additional 16 sustaining injuries.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, noted, “Romanchuk is in charge of Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia, where the main thrust of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is occurring.” This observation suggests that the missile strike was not merely an attack on the Black Sea Fleet HQ but was strategically timed to target key senior leaders during a meeting.
Initially, the Russian Ministry of Defense had confirmed only one soldier’s death in the attack, as previously reported by Insider. However, the Kremlin has remained reticent about confirming the number of Russian casualties since the commencement of the war last year.
Requests for comment from representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and the Government of the Russian Federation had not been responded to by the time of this report.
In May, the White House estimated that as many as 100,000 Russians had been killed or injured since the invasion began, while the British government reported up to 60,000 Russian casualties. Although the exact numbers remain unconfirmed, it is evident that a significant number of Russia’s top generals and military commanders have been lost in action.
Friday’s missile strike is the latest in a series of relentless attacks targeting the Black Sea Fleet’s ships and facilities. As previously reported, these strikes are part of an ongoing effort to make holding Crimea “untenable” for Moscow’s forces.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials reported damage to a command post near the port of Sevastopol resulting from a missile strike. Over the past month, Ukrainian troops also launched a cruise missile strike on a Russian shipyard, inflicting damage on two warfighting vessels. The situation in Crimea remains fluid, with both sides engaged in a high-stakes conflict in the region.