The incident occurred around 9 a.m. this morning when the officer's car, which had just exited a supermarket parking area on Taras Shevchenko Street, was targeted by the explosive.

Initial reports indicated that the officer, who was later identified, suffered severe injuries but was promptly rescued from the vehicle and administered first aid at the roadside. However, it was soon confirmed that he had succumbed to his injuries. Mikhail Razvozhayev, head of the local authority in occupied Sevastopol, announced via Telegram that the victim was a military officer, hinting at the possibility of sabotage behind the incident.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) later identified the deceased as Valery Trankovsky, 47, a naval captain of the first rank and Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet's 41st missile boat brigade. An SBU source revealed that this attack was the outcome of a successful special operation following a week-long surveillance.

According to the SBU statement, Trankovsky had overseen various cruise missile attacks against Ukrainian civilian targets, including a devastating strike on a Vinnytsia shopping mall in July 2022, which resulted in the deaths of 29 civilians, including children. The SBU emphasized that Trankovsky was viewed as a war criminal and a legitimate target under the laws of war.

The Black Sea Fleet's 41st missile boat brigade, which includes cutters like the Bora and Samum, had previously relocated many of its vessels from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk on the Azov Sea in June. Earlier in February, another ship from the brigade, the Ivanovets, was destroyed in an operation by Ukraine's military intelligence using unmanned surface vessels.

This incident marks a notable escalation in the conflict and underscores the ongoing vulnerabilities faced by military personnel even in areas under significant security measures.