The stricken Russian missile cruiser “Moskva” has sunk, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet went down during a storm on Thursday. When towing into a port, the cruiser lost stability, it said.
The ministry attributed the sinking of the “Moskva” to damage to the ship’s hull. This damage is said to have been caused by a “fire caused by the detonation of ammunition”. The governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa, Maxym Marchenko, however, had stated that the “Moskva” had been fired at with Ukrainian “Neptun”-type rockets. A few hours before the sinking of the “Moskva”, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the cruiser, which was equipped with missiles, was still able to swim despite the damage.
The sinking of the “Moskva” is one of the largest material losses for the Russian army since the start of the military operation against Ukraine on February 24. The “Moskva” built in Soviet times, together with other ships of the Black Sea Fleet, had blocked the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
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