Hours after denying that the Moskva (Moscow) warship, the biggest and most powerful missile cruiser in the country’s Black Sea Fleet, was hit by Ukrainian missiles, a Russian official is confirming that the Moskva has sunk. The supposed attack is not even acknowledged.
On Thursday morning, Kyiv said that a double-missile attack off the coast of Ukraine had targeted and hit Moskva, the largest warship in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. A fire had broken out, and while Ukrainian officials claimed the ship was lost, Russian counterparts shrugged it off.
In a statement released to the media, Russia confirmed a fire had broken out on Moskva, and that it had caused considerable damage to the ship. No mention of the Ukrainian land attack was made, with the statement only saying that the fire had caused the explosion of the ammunition onboard. Moskva was still “buoyant” and en route to the nearest friendly port for repairs.
It never made it there.
Russia’s defense ministry has confirmed that Moskva sunk while towed to port. “While being towed... towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank,” state news agency Tass quoted the Russian defense ministry as saying, as per CNN.
Russia maintains that the 500-strong crew on board the warship had been evacuated as the fire broke out, but Kyiv insists that no such evacuation took place since this was a surprise attack. If the latter version is accurate, hundreds may have died.
The Russian carrier was developed in the Soviet era and entered service in the early 1980s. It came out of “retirement” last year for a string of military exercises in the Black Sea that proved that it was as capable – and powerful – as ever. Measuring 558 feet (186.4 meters) in length, it could travel at maximum speeds of 32 knots (37 mph / 59 kph) and had a range of 10,000 nm (12,000 miles / 19,000 km). It carried more than a dozen Vulkan anti-ship missiles and an array of anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons, as well as a helicopter. Kyiv says it was hit by two of its own Neptune missiles.
At the start of the war, Moskva made headlines after the bombing of Snake Island. During the last communication between Russian and Ukrainian troops, the latter refused to surrender and, right before the attack, said on the radio, “Russian warship, go f**k yourself.” Moskva is the largest ship to sink in enemy action since WWII.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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