The Russian Defense Ministry said the most important ship in the Russian Black Sea fleet, the antimissile cruiser Moskva, sank after the explosion.
Known as the “Aircraft Carrier Killer”, the ship carries 16 missiles with a range of at least 700 kilometers and air defense systems capable of protecting the fleet from air attacks.
According to Kyiv, the ship was hit by a Ukrainian missile, which Russia denies.
The entire crew of the ship, about 500 people, was evacuated, according to a report by the Interfax agency. Earlier, Reuters reported that Russia planned to tow the ship into port.
- Meet the Moskva, the Russian “carrier killer” that exploded in the Black Sea
“During the towing of the Moskva ship to the port of destination, the ship lost stability due to damage to the hull (caused) by the fire after the ammunition explosion,” the Russian ministry said, as quoted by the state agency TASS.
“The ship sank in rough seas,” added the steward.
The Russian ministry previously reported that the fire was under control and that the cruiser “maintained her buoyancy” while the causes of the incident were investigated. No balance sheet was published.
Authorities also reported that the ship’s towing operation was underway and that the crew of hundreds of people had been evacuated to other ships in the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.
For the Pentagon, the cruiser’s sinking was a “hard blow” to Russian naval forces in the Black Sea.
“This is a major blow to the Black Sea Fleet, this is an important part of its effort to achieve some sort of naval dominance in the Black Sea,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Thursday.
“This will affect their abilities,” he added.
1 of 1 Details of the Moskva, the Russian ship known as the “aircraft carrier killer” — Photo: Reuters
Details of the Moskva, the Russian ship known as the “aircraft carrier killer” — Photo: Reuters
Kyiv says ship hit by missiles
Hours earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry had reported the fire and evacuation of the cruiser Moskva, its flagship in the Black Sea.
The 186meterlong rocket ship was “severely damaged” by a fire caused by a munitions explosion, and its crew of more than 500 had to be evacuated, according to the ministry.
He later assured that the fire had been contained and that there had been no further explosions. The boat “retains its buoyancy,” he added.
But Ukrainian officials said the Moscow River was hit by “Neptune missiles” that caused “significant damage to this Russian ship,” according to Odessa Governor Maxim Marchenko.
The Moskva began operating in 1983 during the Soviet era and from 2015 participated in the Russian intervention in Syria.
The ship gained notoriety at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, when it took part in the attack on the Island of Snakes, when 19 Ukrainian sailors were captured and exchanged for Russian prisoners.
In the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, authorities said they would resume evacuating civilians after Kyiv ordered a suspension as it deemed them too “dangerous”.
“Humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk region will function provided that the shelling by the occupying forces stops,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Fearing a fullscale Russian offensive, Ukrainian authorities have urged the region’s population to move west to control the area home to the selfproclaimed proRussian separatist “republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are the scene of clashes with the Kiev troops since 2014.