Russian commanders killed and others seriously injured in a devastating Ukrainian missile strike against a military headquarters

Several Russian commanders were killed or seriously injured in a devastating Ukrainian missile strike against a military headquarters, it was claimed today.

Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, said at least nine Russian soldiers or sailors had been killed and 16 injured during an attack on Friday by Storm Shadow missiles on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The strike, by as many as three missiles, was timed to coincide with a meeting of senior military leaders. Among those believed to be seriously injured was Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, the commander leading the Kremlin’s forces in southern Ukraine. Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov, the commander of ground forces usually based in Arctic Russia, is also understood to be in a serious condition after the barrage.

General Budanov refused to confirm reports that Admiral Viktor Sokolov, commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, had been killed in the attack.

Dramatic video footage emerged today showing the moment one of the missiles – supplied by Britain and France – slammed through the roof of the headquarters in the city of Sevastopol.

Plumes of smoke were seen coming from the Russian headquarters after the Ukrainian attack

Photos from the smoking ruins of the neo-classical building later showed widespread destruction.

A Ukrainian military statement last night claimed the attack left ‘dozens of dead and wounded occupiers, including the top management of the fleet’.

A Russian social media channel said that at least 34 officers were killed in the strike.

Greg Bagwell, a retired air marshal and former deputy commander for operations with the RAF, said: ‘Russia’s hold on Crimea is increasingly untenable.’

John Foreman, a former British military attache in Moscow, said that the missile strikes exposed the lack of care taken by Russian commanders. He added: ‘Another self-inflicted disaster for the incompetents of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.’

Oleg Tsekov is the commander of the 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, part of the Coastal Forces of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. He was reported as being one of the wounded 

A Russian social media channel said that at least 34 officers were killed in the strike at the headquarters in the city of Sevastopol

The Sevastopol area came under further missile attack yesterday.

The city’s Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said debris from one missile shot down by air defences had fallen near a pier, adding ‘We earnestly ask everyone: stop sowing panic and pleasing our enemies… panic is their main goal.’

Russia occupied Crimea in 2014. Ukraine’s navy recently claimed to have destroyed an S-400 air defence missile battery protecting the peninsula, degrading Russia’s ability to defend against attacks.