Deputy commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Captain 1st rank Andrey Paliy, was killed in combat near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, multiple senior Russian officials said on Sunday.
Yekaterina Altabaeva, Senator for the Crimean city of Sevastopol, the home port of the Black Sea Fleet, was first to break the news. The senior officer was killed in fighting to “liberate Mariupol from the Nazis,” the lawmaker said, without providing any further detail.
The news was confirmed by the Sevastopol governor, Mikhail Razvozhaev, later in the day. Both officials said they knew the officer personally, extending their condolences to his family and friends.