Russian officials have confirmed that the deputy commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet, first-ranking Captain Andrei Paly, died during the fighting in Mariupol.
Earlier it was Ukraine that claimed to have killed him. Fierce fighting continues in Mariupol, a port city hit hard by Russian shelling.
Paly's death was initially confirmed by Nakhimov Naval College Secretary Konstantin Tsarenko on the social network Vkontakte (VK).
Later, a Russian senator from Sevastopol, the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Russia-annexed Crimea - said in a post in VK that "Sevastopol has suffered a severe, unparable loss... Paly died in battles for mariupol's liberation from the Nazis.
Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a post on Telegram that "Andrei Nikolaevich chose to protect the Homeland as the work of his life and died for our peaceful future".
Ukrainian sources have reported on the deaths of five Russian generals in fighting that erupted with Russia's invasion on February 24. Russia has officially confirmed only one of these victims - General Andrei Sukhovetsky.