However, Russia has strong air defense systems in Crimea, which it took away from Ukraine in 2014. They can protect the fleet from attacks because they operate in the area.
Can “Moscow” be replaced by something else?
Russia will not be able to replace the opportunities provided by Moscow in the near future. It has only two other vessels in the same class, the Marshal Ustinov and the Varyag, which serve the northern and Pacific Russian fleets respectively. To reach Ukraine, both ships must cross the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.
The waterway between Istanbul is controlled by Turkey, which claims that it will not allow warships from passing through any country. “When Turkey is not a warring party in the conflict, it has the right to restrict the movement of warships across the Straits,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlit Chavushol said in February.
How good was the sunken ship?
“Moscow” was outdated. Developed during the Cold War in the 1970s, it was built to destroy US aircraft carriers and has been at sea for almost four decades.
Although the warship was substantially remodeled and put back into service in 2021, some of its equipment was still outdated, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
Russia’s victims when the ship sank
There were about 500 Russian sailors on the Moscow crew at the time of the fire. Although Russia has successfully evacuated many of the people on board to the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine admits there may have been casualties. Neither Russia nor the United States have commented on the number of possible victims or whether there are any.
A blow to Russian pride
The loss of Russia’s leading ship is a bitter blow to Russia and a disgrace internationally. Although old, it was a symbol of Russia’s dominance at sea and the country’s military might. If the ship had been destroyed by a Ukrainian missile, according to both Ukraine and the United States, it would be the largest Russian warship lost since World War II, when German bombers marched the Soviet battleship Marat in the port of Kronstadt.
The view that the Russian ship is sinking is “a great propaganda victory for Ukraine,” according to an ISW assessment.
What was Moscow’s intended role?
Analysts have suggested that Moscow may play a role in a possible Russian landing attack on the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which had not yet taken place due to resistance from Ukrainian forces. It is now believed in some places that this is less likely to happen, which could allow Ukraine to redeploy part of its troops elsewhere.
However, this is just one version. It is not clear to what extent this was Russia’s plan.
Will the sinking of Moscow change the outcome of the war in Ukraine?
What is happening in Ukraine is mainly the land war. So far, the seas have not played a major role.
U.S. officials have pointed out that while the sinking of the cruiser will have a symbolic effect that is likely to boost Ukraine’s morale at Russia’s expense, it will not significantly affect the course of the war. In a conversation with Reuters, a US official added that Russia had used the ship only in limited cases, such as replenishing troops in the south and making occasional strikes.
However, the British Ministry of Defense has said the loss is likely to force Russia to reconsider its naval position in the Black Sea. Following a possible missile strike, Russian ships moved off the coast of Ukraine by about 80 nautical miles, although they could still hit Ukraine at that distance.
