Ukraine says it blew up a Russian naval commander with a car bomb in occupied Crimea

Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine orchestrated an attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula that killed a high-ranking Russian naval officer, sources in Ukraine's security services told the AFP and Reuters news agencies Wednesday. The killing, which was confirmed by Moscow, is the latest in a string of targeted attacks on Russian military officers and pro-Kremlin public figures in occupied Ukrainian territory and within Russia.

A source in the Security Service of Ukraine told AFP it had orchestrated a car bomb attack in the city of Sevastopol that killed senior naval officer Valery Trankovsky, a first rank captain in Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

"As a result of the explosion, the Russian captain's legs were blown off and he died of blood loss," the source added in written comments. It described Trankovsky as "war criminal" responsible for the launch of cruise missiles from the Black Sea at civilian targets in Ukraine.