Russia: ammunition burns
The ship was “severely damaged” by the explosion of the ammunition it was carrying on board after a fire, the Russians explained, recalling that “the crew was evacuated”. According to the Russian defense, it “sinked in rough seas due to damage to the hull that occurred during fire following the explosion of ammunition on board”. The Pentagon, having confirmed “an explosion” but not its cause, handed it directly to the port of Sevastopol in Crimea for a desperate attempt to repair it, an unsuccessful attempt.
The Moskva fears that a nuclear warhead may have landed in the abyss, which, according to unconfirmed rumours, was part of its arsenal.
The Ukrainians: we hit the cruiser
Obviously, the official version of Kyiv is diametrically opposed. The Russian ship Moskva was reportedly hit by Neptune missiles by Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea, according to Odessa Oblast Governor Maksym Marchenko. The Ukrainian agency UNIAN also stated that the missiles would cause significant damage.
Another confirmation that Ukraine hit the Russian cruiser are the words of Zelensky’s adviser Oleksiv Arestovych, who, according to Afp reports, announced that “a surprise has occurred at the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet”. This version has always been denied by Russia.
It was the ship that was sent “to hell” by Ukrainian soldiers
The cruiser “Moskva” together with the ship “Vasily Bykov” threatened the Ukrainian island of snakes. The border guards responded to the surrender call with a nowfamous “go to hell.
The pride of the Russian Navy
The 186meterlong Moskva with a crew of almost 500 people was the pride of the Russian Navy. Originally commissioned as the Slava in the 1980s during Soviet times, it was renamed Moskva in 1995 and entered service in 1998. It was armed with a range of antiship and antiaircraft missiles, as well as torpedoes and naval guns and defense systems. .
The missile cruiser has also been used from Moscow in the Syrian conflict, where it provided naval protection for Russian forces in the country. The Moskva was the third largest ship in the Russian active fleet.
The cruiser was equipped with a threetiered air defense system that, when working correctly, should give her three options to defend against a missile attack from the Neptune, deployed by the Ukrainians. Thus, if confirmed that the attack came from a missile, that fact would raise serious questions about the modernization (and maintenance) capabilities of the Russian surface fleet.