Russia's Black Sea navy commander, Viktor Sokolov, seen speaking in footage

A television station run by Russia's defense ministry showed a video interview with Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov on Wednesday (September 27), days after Ukraine claimed he had been killed in a missile strike on Russian navy headquarters in Crimea.

In the video, Sokolov says the Black Sea Fleet is performing successfully.

It was unclear from his comments whether the clip was filmed after Ukraine's missile strike on Sept. 22.

The video released on September 27, shows Sokolov at an awards event congratulating members of the Black Sea Fleet soccer team for their performance in a soccer tournament for teams from Russia's armed forces which ended on September 18, according to the Defence ministry.

A television reporter points out to Sokolov that the awards event in Sevastopol had been postponed because of 'known events' in the port city - a possible reference to Ukraine's missile strike.

Sovolov responds by saying the awards ceremony had been postponed for another reason. "....we were busy and had to postpone it for a few days," Sokolov replies.

Ukraine's special forces said on Monday that Sokolov had been killed along with 33 other officers in a missile attack last week on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014.

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Видео Russia's Black Sea navy commander, Viktor Sokolov, seen speaking in footage канала The Sun