A video has been circulating since yesterday showing the CommanderinChief of the Russian Navy, the Admiral Nikolai YevmenovIn Sevastopol, Crimea, the survivors of the crew of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian fleet, which sank in the Black Sea, meet and “will continue to serve in the Navy”. However, some international analysts have expressed doubts about the video released by Russia: the hypothesis is that it may be an outdated video proposed by Russian propaganda to minimize the damage caused by what they continue to do define as an internal accident.
Doubts arise due to the presence of a soldier closely resembling the commander during the parade Anton Kuprin, Captain 1st class in command aboard the cruiser Moskva. In fact, he would be the captain of the ship. However, according to Ukrainian data and some intelligence sources, Anton Kuprin would have died on board the cruiser. There is no news of the causes of death that may have been due to the explosion or, as is traditional with commanders, especially military, that the commander could also have sunk along with his ship.
Russia shows a review of Moskva sailors to deny news of their mass deaths. pic.twitter.com/Fq6V3rW13D
0V3RG4M3 (@AxlGuidato) April 17, 2022
The resemblance between the man photographed in the video and the commander Anton Kuprin is striking, and according to the analysis by the expert Hi Sutton, this could say two things: the video released by Russia is before the Moskva sank or the commander is not, as before believed to have died on board ship. The most recognized thesis seems to be the first. The ship’s survivors were rescued by a Turkish ship, but of the Moscow River’s approximately 510 crew members, fewer than half would have been saved, some 240. And it is this element that casts doubt on Sutton’s analysis: “It is possible that the Die Parade was not exactly as portrayed and it is believable that the video is fake but if it were so, more sailors should have been present.”
Doubts remain about the fate of the crew, but also about the real reasons that led to Russia losing its most important ship. The Kremlin claims the Moskva sank due to an explosion at a reservoir ammunition on board. Ukraine, on the other hand, claimed that the military unit was hit by a rocket fired by the Kiev armed forces.