Missile Strikes Russian Naval Headquarters in Crimea | VOA News

Eyewitness video captured the moment a Ukrainian missile struck the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol Friday.

The experience of one of Russia’s most prestigious airborne regiments highlights the "extreme attrition and high turnover" rates in Russia’s deployed military, including its senior ranks, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday in its daily intelligence update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Three successive commanders of the 247th Guards Air Assault Landing Regiment have either resigned or been killed, it said. First, Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky, a unit commander, was killed near the beginning of the Russian invasion. Then, Colonel Vasily Popov was "likely killed" in the "heavily contested Orikhiv sector," early this month, according to the intelligence report.

Meanwhile, Colonel Pyotr Popov "likely resigned" his command of the 247th in August, the report said, after protesting the military’s failure to recover the bodies of Russian casualties.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for a missile attack Friday on the headquarters of Russia’s navy in Crimea, delivering a major blow for Moscow as it suffers a string of attacks on the strategically significant port in recent months.

"The headquarters of the fleet have been hit in an enemy attack," said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol.

Video on social media showed plumes of thick smoke coming out of the Russian naval headquarters in the region. #ukraine #crimea #russia