Moscow - The Russian Defense Ministry has unveiled a video featuring the Black Sea Fleet's commander participating in a conference, despite previous claims by Ukraine that he had been killed.

The timing of the footage, which depicts Viktor Sokolov engaging in a video conference with the defense minister, remains unclear.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, this meeting with high-ranking officials occurred on Tuesday.

Earlier, Ukraine's special forces asserted that Admiral Sokolov, along with 33 other officers, had perished in a missile strike targeting the fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, which is under Russian occupation. However, they did not explicitly name the admiral or provide any substantiating evidence of his demise. Now, Ukraine states it is "clarifying" these reports.

In their statement, they remarked, "As it is known, 34 officers were killed as a result of a missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation." This implies a change in Ukraine's stance following the release of the Russian Defense Ministry's video. They now reference "open sources" to support their claim that the commander was among the 34 casualties.

This shift in tone contrasts with their previous confidence. Ukraine's new Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, expressed to CNN that if Admiral Sokolov were indeed deceased, "it's good news for everybody," but he emphasized that confirmation was lacking.

It's possible that Ukraine acted based on intelligence to target a critical gathering in occupied Crimea. While the significance of last Friday's strike cannot be underestimated, if Kyiv's reported accomplishments are overstated, it could prove a recklessness in the ongoing information warfare.

The eight-minute video displays a Defense Ministry collegium, purportedly from Tuesday morning. Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu can be seen conversing with senior officials in a Moscow conference room. He also briefly appears on video link with the commanders of Russia's five fleets, including the Black Sea Fleet, though none of them speak.

Facial recognition software has indicated a resemblance between Adm Sokolov and the individual in the latest video, suggesting their identity is the same. However, the BBC has not yet verified whether the meeting indeed transpired on Tuesday or whether Adm Sokolov's appearance on the video link was in real time.

On Friday, Ukraine reported striking the fleet's headquarters, considered a prized target within the Russian navy. Social media footage depicted smoke rising from the building. Russia claimed to have intercepted five missiles but reported one serviceman as missing after the attack.

Kyiv's forces have recently escalated their attacks against Russian forces stationed in Crimea. The Black Sea fleet not only serves as a launch point for potential strikes against Ukraine but also symbolizes Russia's long-standing military presence in the region. Even before Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, it was stationed in the area under a leasing agreement.