The decommissioning of this emblematic building is a major snub to the Russian army, while the Ukrainian authorities claim to have hit it with cruise missiles.
The cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, which was damaged during the offensive against Ukraine, has sunk, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday evening, April 14.
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During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost stability due to hull damage caused by fire from the detonation of ammunition. The ship sank in rough seas,” the ministry said, quoted by the state news agency TASS.
Ukraine claims to have hit them with rockets
This 186-meter-long rocket ship was “seriously damaged” by a fire that caused a munitions explosion and its more than 500-strong crew had to be evacuated, the Russian Defense Ministry said on the night. The latter then said on Thursday morning that the fire had contained and the explosions had stopped. “Cruiser Moskva maintains buoyancy,” he said.
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The Ukrainian authorities, for their part, claimed to have used cruise missiles to attack this flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol, Crimea. “Neptune missiles protecting the Black Sea caused significant damage to this Russian ship,” assured the governor of the Odessa Black Sea region Maxime Marchenko. His statements were confirmed by the spokesman for the military administration of this Ukrainian port city, Serguiï Bratchouk.
The closure of this emblematic building, built in the USSR in 1983, bearing the name of the Russian capital and previously involved in the Russian campaign in Syria, is a great snub to the Russian army.