A source in the Security Service of Ukraine has told RFE/RL that Kyiv orchestrated an attack that killed a Russian Navy officer in Crimea. Captain Valery Trankovsky died in a car bombing incident in the city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's Russia-annexed peninsula. The city's Moscow-installed mayor described the incident as a possible sabotage action. Trankovsky commanded the headquarters of the 41st brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's missile boats, a unit actively involved in major deadly missile strikes in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The incident is part of a larger pattern where Russian military personnel, security officials, and Ukrainian collaborators in Russian-occupied territories are targeted in assassination attempts. Ukraine’s Security Service and military intelligence are often implicated by media in such operations, but the agencies rarely officially confirm their involvement. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
Kyiv Claims Deadly Attack In Crimea That Targeted Russian Navy Officer
The deadly incident occurred in the city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's Russia-annexed peninsula (file photo)