STORY: In video and photographs released by the Russian defense ministry, Sokolov was shown taking part in a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top admirals and army chiefs.

Ukraine’s special forces said on Monday (September 25) they had killed Sokolov, Moscow’s top admiral in Crimea, along with 33 other officers in a missile attack last week on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the port of Sevastopol.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had declined to comment on the Ukrainian claim, referring reporters to the defense ministry.