New photos show the doomed Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva ablaze about to sink during a Ukrainian missile attack.
The missile cruiser — the largest vehicle deployed against Ukraine to date — can be seen in photos and video released Monday, leaning dangerously to the left as thick smoke billowed into the sky.
The pictures, which showed up on Mondaywere reportedly captured on Thursday, a day after Kyiv claimed it hit the ship with Neptune missiles off Odessa, according to The Times of London.
A senior US defense official confirmed on Friday that at least one Ukrainian missile has hit the Moskva River – contradicting the Kremlin’s claim that the 600-foot ship, which had nearly 500 sailors on board, was damaged in a munitions fire.
First images have emerged showing the cruiser Moskva damaged after being attacked by Ukraine. Twitter/east2west news
Moscow claims the ship sank in bad weather while being towed after the munitions fire.
Images of the burning warship, taken from a nearby vessel, were first shared on a Telegram messaging app believed to be linked to Russian security agencies, the Telegraph reported.
The Russian Navy patrol ship Pytliviy (left) navigates near the Russian Navy’s flagship missile cruiser Moskva (right) after being damaged by Ukrainian forces. AFP via Getty Images
Its lifeboats appear to have been deployed.
Meanwhile, Russia released a video on Saturday showing what it described as members of the doomed ship.
About 120 sailors and officers can be seen in the silent footage, standing to attention in uniform. The 26-second clip was posted on the Russian Defense Ministry’s Facebook page.
Moscow has claimed the ship sank in bad weather while being towed after the munitions fire.VK.com/east2west news
On Monday, the mother of a Moskva crew member who served as a cook said he was missing.
Irina Shkrebets told Russian news agency The Insider that she and her husband went to a hospital in Crimea in search of their son Yegor Shkrebets and saw about 200 sailors with severe burns, the Telegraph reported.
“I’ve seen every kid who’s had burns. I can’t describe how hard it was, but I didn’t find my child,” the distressed mother reportedly told the outlet. “There were 200 people (in the hospital) while there were more than 500 people on the cruiser. Where are the others?”
Another woman told Novaya Gazeta her son was hospitalized after the sinking and dozens were killed.
A senior US defense official confirmed Friday that at least one Ukrainian missile hit the Moskva.AP Photo, File
“My son cried when he called me to tell me what he saw. It was frightening. Obviously not all survived,” the woman said on condition of anonymity, according to the outlet’s Telegraph.
“He said he never thought he’d end up in a mincer like that in peacetime,” she added.
Meanwhile, a Kremlin propagandist reprimanded the Russian Navy for losing the vaunted ship.
Images of the burning warship, taken from a nearby ship, were first shared on a Telegram messaging app believed to be linked to Russian security agencies. Satellite Image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP
Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts a popular TV show, said he was “angry” at the loss of the Moscow River.
“When we say yes it was old, yes it was renovated, yes this line of ships had really vulnerable spots, old traumas, I understand that,” Solovyov, 58, told The Times of London.
“Just explain to me: how the hell did you manage to lose it? Explain to me: how the hell did you end up in this part of the Black Sea? Back then?” he said.
Images allegedly showing the damaged cruiser Moskva shortly after being hit by Ukrainian missiles, with lifeboats missing.OSINT Technical
“I don’t care what happened, whether there were two Neptun rockets, as the Ukrainians say,” Solovyov said. “Since when does a warship fear a missile attack if it has equipment to protect itself from such attacks?”
He added: “What about your fire protection system? Why didn’t it work and the ship practically burned out from the inside?”
According to Ukrainian reports, the Moskva’s captain, Anton Kuprin, died in the sinking, but Russian media said he was in photos released by the Defense Ministry on Saturday.
Moscow cruiser with lifeboats visible before the ship was attacked by Ukraine.OSINT Technical
Ukrainian media also claim that Igor Osipov, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was arrested after the sinking, but this has not been confirmed by the Kremlin, according to The Times of London.