A top Russian Navy commander accused of war crimes was assassinated in a Ukraine-planted car bomb explosion in Crimea on Wednesday, sources said.
Valery Trankovsky, who headed the 41st brigade of Russia’s Black Sea missile ships, was wiped out in the targeted attack in the city of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian security source told Reuters.
The hit — carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine — was justified after Trankovsky ordered missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, according to the sources.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles probes into serious crimes, called the assassination an act of terrorism but stopped short of identifying the slain serviceman.
Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russia’s security services, only identified him as “Valery T” — describing him as a “captain first rank” for the Black Sea Fleet and a former chief of staff of the missile ship brigade.
Footage and images shared on the telegram channel showed smoke billowing from the charred wreckage in the wake of the explosion.
Trankovsky is just the latest pro-war Russian figure to be assassinated by Ukraine.
He and several others were included on the so-called Myrotvorets list — a massive unofficial Ukrainian database of people considered to be enemies of the country.
Trankovsky’s photo on the site was overwritten with the word “Liquidated” in red letters as of Wednesday.
Russia has repeatedly used warships from its Black Sea Fleet to unleash missile strikes on targets across Ukraine — leading to hundreds of civilian casualties.
Moscow, however, has insisted it doesn’t target civilians or civilian infrastructure in its strikes.
With Post wires
