The chief of staff of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet missile ships was killed in a car bombing in occupied Sevastopol, an anonymous source linked to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) confirmed to Liga.

Initially, the Russian Telegram channel Baza reported that a car “was blown up on a motorway in Sevastopol – tentatively, an explosive device went off. The driver was killed.” The car was reportedly moving along Taras Shevchenko Street. Baza noted that eyewitnesses pulled the driver out of the car and handed him over to the paramedics, but his injuries were lethal.

Baza updated that preliminary reports suggested that the driver of the car was a 47-year-old Captain 1st Rank of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, later identified as “Valery T.,” who “previously served as the chief of staff for the missile boat brigade.”

His SUV was reportedly parked near a shop on Taras Shevchenko Street, and an IED is believed to have detonated inside.

Alleged SBU operation

A source in the Ukrainian security service told Liga that Trankovskyi, who commanded the 41st Brigade of missile ships and boats, was eliminated in a successful SBU special operation. The explosion severed the officer’s legs, and he died from blood loss, the source said.

“Trankovskyi was a war criminal who ordered Kalibr cruise missile launches from the Black Sea against Ukrainian civilian targets. He was specifically responsible for the July 2022 missile strike on Vinnytsia that killed 29 civilians,” the SBU source told Liga.

The source added that the Russian commander had participated in multiple missile strikes on Odesa and other civilian areas, making him “an absolutely legitimate target under the laws and customs of war.”

Liga says Russian sources claim Trankovskyi was under surveillance for about a week before the remotely detonated IED attack.

“It is symbolic that the Russian war criminal, whose hands are stained with the blood of dozens of peaceful Ukrainians, ended his inglorious life on Taras Shevchenko Street in Sevastopol. Retribution for crimes is only a matter of time. No occupier or killer can feel safe wherever they are,” the SBU source noted.

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