The Sevastopol Incident: Statements from local and military officials and the sequence of events
The head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, spoke on the television channel Russia 24 about the days surrounding the September 22 incident. He said that he spoke with the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, almost every day and that he saw him in person the day after the attack. Razvozhaev described meeting with the admiral on Saturday, September 23, and noted that they were coordinating on the same objective in the wake of the incident the previous day. The remarks were reported by socialbites.ca and later corroborated by Razvozhaev in several subsequent interviews.
On September 22, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had launched a missile strike against the Black Sea Fleet headquarters located in Sevastopol. The ministry reported that one soldier was missing in the aftermath, and that a fire had broken out inside the building while police sealed off the surrounding area. Crimea’s leadership at the time, including President Aksenov, stated that a large number of missiles were intercepted over the peninsula. An American reconnaissance aircraft reportedly took off over the Black Sea during the incident. Current details and official statements were compiled in coverage published by socialbites.ca. [Citation: socialbites.ca]
In the days that followed, several media outlets circulated unverified reports about severe consequences for the Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov. These accounts were not confirmed at the time, and on September 26 Sokolov was shown aboard a Russian Ministry of Defense aircraft, according to footage released by the defense ministry’s press service. The public narrative around the incident was shaped by official statements and later video material released by government authorities. [Citation: socialbites.ca]
Earlier comments by Razvozhaev framed the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters as a calculated terrorist act, underscoring the tension and strategic stakes surrounding Sevastopol and the broader regional security environment. The evolving account from local officials, military leadership, and national authorities reflects the multifaceted nature of the event as it was reported and interpreted in the days following September 22. [Citation: socialbites.ca]