Destroyed the Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol Strike

September 22, 2023April 19, 2026

Today’s missiles found and destroyed the Black Sea Fleet HQ in temporarily occupied Sevastopol. Local residents reported at least two cruise missiles flying overhead before the explosions triggered a fire that was still burning as of 4 PM.

This wasn’t the first hit on that specific building. A few months back, a small drone struck the roof — and it was obvious at the time that this was a technology demonstrator, a targeting test. The Ukrainian Armed Forces were checking whether they could reliably hit a target inside a city. Everything worked as intended and today, AFU came back with the cruise thing.

Gauleiter¹ Aksyonov cheerfully reported that both missiles were intercepted:

Enemy social media overflowed with a mix of panic and threats, but after videos appeared online, some details emerged. The missile type remains unconfirmed, but cruise missiles are certain — the characteristic turbine sound gives it away.

If these were Storm Shadow or SCALP missiles, they carry an option to punch through the roof and detonate inside the target. That means the building’s exterior tells you nothing about the actual damage — the warheads drove through practically to the basement and detonated from below. The building dates from the Soviet era, so its outer walls are thick load-bearing structures that carried the weight of the floors. That’s why the facade looks relatively intact. But inside — minced meat. Every reason exists to conclude that the Black Sea Fleet headquarters no longer functions as a command structure.

What the slow-motion footage shows

Several videos of the strike have been shared online, and if you watch them frame by frame, you can see the missile hitting not just the building, but a specific section — the part facing the colonnade. In Soviet times, that was where the fleet commander’s office was located. If the Orcs² changed nothing, one of those missiles may have turned into dust the office of the vice admiral who issued criminal orders to shell Ukrainian cities.

It’s worth stating plainly: the Russian Black Sea Fleet was not engaged in any naval warfare. There was simply nothing opposing it at sea. Instead, it spent its operational existence shelling civilian cities and engaging in piracy on international shipping lanes. A commander who issues those orders is a war criminal by any reasonable definition. If one of today’s missiles eliminated the commander and everyone in that room with him, that is not a side effect — it is precisely the correct outcome. And if the death of a vice admiral gets confirmed, then the AFU will have already destroyed the commander, the headquarters, the fleet command post, and the fleet flagship — every single one of them.

By the Book

The Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the Black Sea Fleet HQ by the book. As of 4:00 PM, something was still burning on site. Reports indicate surrounding buildings lost gas and electricity — likely a contributing factor. Enemy sources say an important meeting was underway at the moment of impact, with numerous senior officers present.

Colleagues drawing on their own sources in Sevastopol report that dozens of seriously wounded officers arrived at the hospital on Gospitalny Descent. How many went to the morgue, nobody is saying — and the enemy will hide those figures for as long as possible.

The Sentence

What’s left of the Black Sea Fleet HQ is rubble and bad memories. Nothing remains of the headquarters, nothing remains of the fleet command post, nothing remains of the ship repair docks. The flagship has been gone for over a year. The Ukrainian Armed Forces warned that if the Black Sea Fleet didn’t stop shelling Ukrainian territory and didn’t stop trying to block grain shipments from Ukrainian ports, it was signing its own death warrant. The enemy didn’t take it seriously. So Ukraine carried out the sentence.

Ukraine has largely eliminated the air defense systems along the western coast of temporarily occupied Crimea. Ukrainian strikes have partially destroyed the airfields. Ukrainian forces wiped out the command post and the fleet HQ. They have damaged or sunk ships of all sizes. And in the meantime, two grain vessels that departed Ukrainian ports have already reached the Bosphorus — while three more are entering Ukrainian ports to load.

Footnotes

¹Gauleiter — a Nazi-era term for a regional administrator of occupied territory. Used here deliberately as a reference to Russian-appointed occupation officials.

²Orcs – a common term for Russians who support or participate in the armed aggression against Ukraine. Dehumanizing? Yes. Accurate? Also yes.

For a full list of military slang and terms, check the glossary.