Who was Andrey Paliy? Kyiv-born Russian commander of Black Sea Fleet ‘shot dead’ near Mariupol

Russian military officer Andrey Paliy has been killed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as per the posts on Russian social media.

The deceased 51-year-old, who was a commander on the Black Sea fleet, was shot and killed by Ukrainian forces near Mariupol, making him the first high-ranking Russian military official to die since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last month.

Who was Andrey Paliy?

Andrey was born in Kyiv but following the fall of the Soviet Union, he reportedly pledged his allegiance to the Kremlin. He moved to Russia and joined the navy. He may have been involved in Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. He was the Deputy commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Kyiv-born Russian commander of Black Sea Fleet ‘shot dead’ near Mariupol

Paliy was born in Kyiv and in 1993 refused to take the Ukrainian military oath to instead serve in the Russian Northern Fleet. He was the deputy commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and was reportedly gunned down near Mariupol.

Andrei Paly is the latest senior Russian official to be killed in the war with Ukraine.US officials said Russian military setbacks had caused top officials to take unusually advanced positions, leaving them vulnerable to attack.