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Russia has published a second clip purporting to show a top naval officer alive and well, after Ukraine claimed he had been killed in a missile strike on the headquarters of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. Ukraine’s special forces claimed on Monday that the Russian fleet’s commander, admiral Viktor Sokolov, was among 34 officers killed in the huge strike on Sevastopol, which they said had caused irreparable damage to the headquarters building. But the military body backpedalled the following day, saying its units were “clarifying the information” which had been based on open sources, adding that many of those killed in the strike “still have not been identified due to the disparity of body fragments”. Kyiv’s special forces said the clarification came after Moscow was “urgently forced to publish an answer with an apparently alive Sokolov” – a reference to footage published by Russia’s defence ministry showing Mr Sokolov appearing on a video conference call with defence minister Sergei Shoigu. Admiral Sokolov is also seen on a video screen but in a different location, with only a flag seen in the backdrop behind him. He is also not heard speaking in the video. While this appears to be a signal from Moscow that the admiral is still alive, Russia has not released any details to prove when the video conference took place. In a further twist on Wednesday, Russian defence ministry-linked outlet Zvezda published footage it claimed showed Mr Sokolov speaking to reporters while attending an award ceremony for the Chernomorets Black Sea Fleet football team. But doubts were cast over whether the footage was new, given that Mr Sokolov made no reference to the Black Sea attack in his comments. “The Black Sea Fleet confidently and successfully fulfills the tasks assigned to it by the command,” he can be heard saying in the footage, adding that the exploits of Russia’s marines “practically do not appear on the screens of central television”. While Moscow has not commented directly on Mr Solokov’s status, defence ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on Wednesday that there was “no doubt” the attack was “planned in advance using Western intelligence means, Nato satellite assets and reconnaissance planes”. The strike on annexed Crimea “was implemented upon of the advice of American and British security agencies and in close coordination with them”, Ms Zakharova claimed. Ukraine has previously refrained from directly claiming responsibility for strikes on targets in Crimea and Russia for fear of alienating Western allies concerned that such strikes could allow Moscow to claim them as evidence of Nato-sanctioned escalation. However, Kyiv has become bolder in claiming such attacks as part of its wider counteroffensive efforts in recent months, having increased its use of domestically-produced attack drones to strike targets in Moscow, Belgorod and Crimea. In its earlier update on the Sevastopol strike, Ukraine’s special forces said the air force fired 12 missiles on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters as it targeted areas where personnel, military equipment and weapons were concentrated. Two anti-aircraft missile systems and four Russian artillery units were hit, special forces said. Moscow-installed authorities in Sevastopol, annexed by Russia in 2014, are reported to be taking extra defensive measures in the face of Ukraine’s increased attacks on Crimea in recent days. Sevastopol is a critical region providing a platform from which Russia has launched many of its air attacks on Ukraine in the 19-month-long war. Read More Russia remains silent as Ukraine claims Black Sea Fleet commander among 34 officers killed Putin’s Black Sea fleet commander ‘killed in navy attack’ as Ukraine breakthrough triggers ‘panic’ Russia’s Lavrov rubbishes Ukraine peace plan and warns conflict will be resolved on battlefield Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin planning new ‘assault units’ despite Moscow’s ‘mobilisation issues’

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A British hiker has been missing in the Swiss Alps for more than a month, as his family continue the search to find him. Aidan Roche, 29, travelled to Switzerland for a two-week solo holiday in June, where he planned to track a mountain trail in the Grindelwald area. He was last heard from on 22 June, twelve days into his two-week trip and there has been no trace of him since. His brother Connor said of the experienced hiker: “It’s not something he wouldn’t have been able to manage. But sometimes you know, all it takes is a freak occurrence for something to go wrong.” His family and friends have set up GoFundMe page to help support further search efforts, as they say the Swiss police and mountain rescue service have ceased their efforts having “exhausted every option”. The campaign has now exceeded its £30,000 goal, with funds going towards generating new leads by raising awareness in the area, as well as the use of a search helicopter. Below we look at everything we know about search so far. Who is Aidan Roche? Aidan Roche is an experienced hiker from Middlesbrough. The 6ft 2in tall 29 year-old works as an offshore chemical engineer. He grew up in Longlands, a central Middlesbrough neighbourhood, and was living in Leeds at the time he went missing. He had planned to move back to Middlesbrough after his trip. “He’s a character and this solo travel thing is exactly the type of thing he loves,” his brother Connor has said. “He can talk to absolutely everyone and he can just make friends with anyone.” Aidan’s friend Beth Taylor says he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm reading “MAYASWELLMAYSENYA” and loved to play “blaring” music from a speaker as he walked. Where was he last seen? A video taken at 11:36am BST places Roche a short distance away from the village of Grindelwald, which sits at the foot of the Eiger mountain. Friends say this is the last footage he sent to them. In this video, and two others sent on the same day, other hikers can be seen in the background.Ms Taylor posted an appeal on TikTok, asking anyone with information about these people to come forward – it has been viewed 26,000 times. She says his family are looking for a woman seen sitting on a rock in a video filmed at 11:05 BST and five people near a waterfall filmed in the final video. “I know he would have spoken to the girl sitting near him in the video, and the people walking towards him. We’re just hoping that someone can identify them and give us a new lead.” The family have also released Aidan’s last text messages before he went missing, sent to an unnamed friend, where the 29-year-old wrote: “Hello, hello. I should be in Grindelwald in about two hours,” followed by a picture of the view from the trail, and his final message: “I’m still pretty high. I’ll see you back at camp.” What is the latest on the search? Mr Roche’s family went to Switzerland on 21 July to try and find him themselves. They have been forced to continue the search alone after the Swiss police and mountain rescue teams ended their efforts after ‘exhausting every option. This is proving costly, so the family and friends have launched a GoFundMe appeal so they can keep going. His brother Connor Roche provided an update on 30 July: “We just need some more information. We’ve had nothing coming in from any of the missing posters. “We’ve also now been given the bill for the search helicopter, which came to £7k.” His other brother Niall explained how the search effort went: There’s none of his bag or anything that he had with him. It doesn’t make sense how we haven’t found anything. From the timestamp of the picture he sent, it’s about 90 minutes of hiking and it’s not particularly difficult.” What have his friends and family said? In her TikTok video, Mr Taylor said Mr Roche had “biggest heart” and would “do anything for anyone”. Speaking to the Guardian, Connor Roche said: “I try and keep up hope that maybe he’s decided to wander off, or he’s hit his head and forgotten who he is, but I have to drag myself back to what we actually know and the evidence suggests that he’s still on the mountain and we haven’t found him yet. There’s the outside chance that he has some crazy survival story.” “You can’t help but imagine the worst of things sometimes – especially with it being this long since he went missing. “But then you feel guilty for imagining those things. Right now we just need more information – anything that can help us find him and bring him home.” Read More Brother’s desperate plea to find British hiker, 29, who vanished in Swiss Alps British Scouts attending South Korea jamboree moved to hotels after illness outbreak ‘Love, obsession, extortion and murder’: The dramatic downfall of TikTok influencer who became a killer Chef Tafari Campbell’s death ‘not suspicious’ as Obama daughters leave island Boris Johnson vows to protect newts threatening plans for pool at his country manor British Scouts pulled from South Korea jamboree as hundreds struck down by heatwave