Russia’s Defense Ministry late on April 14 said its Moskva guided-missile cruiser vessel has sunk after suffering damages the previous day.
The warship’s demise, the fourth Russian naval vessel to be lost since Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin ordered a renewed invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, marks a huge blow to the invading forces and morale boost for Ukraine.
Moscow said “stormy seas” caused the Black Sea fleet’s flagship to sink as it was being towed, presumably to occupied Crimea where Russia’s southern naval bases are located.
The 612-foot ship was a symbol of Russian might in the seas yet Kyiv officials said on April 13 that two anti-ship Neptune rockets had struck the vessel, causing serious damage.
Russia later confirmed that day that a fire broke out causing munitions on board to detonate and that its 500-man crew had been evacuated. The fate of the crew members is unknown.
The conflicting reports the following day was compounded by the Pentagon saying only that a “huge explosion” had occurred aboard the ship without saying what caused it. The U.S. Defense Department also said the Moskva cruiser was still afloat.
Alleged audio intercepts of Russia’s navy found by the Kyiv Post on social media showed one male complaining that Ukrainian forces used an aircraft northeast of the port city of Mykolayiv as a decoy, distracting the ship’s anti-air defense systems and allowing the Neptune rockets to strike.
Open-source intelligence sources who follow naval traffic said that the vessel sent out a Morse code that it was sinking at around 1:05 am on April 14 local time.
The sinking of the ship has been described as poetic justice in Ukrainian media.
It’s the same vessel at which a Ukrainian coast guard member swore while standing on the Black Sea Snake Island after he and other servicemen were offered a surrender. Border Guardsman Roman Hrybov was taken prisoner but released together with other servicemen on March 24 in a prisoner exchange.
He was subsequently awarded a bravery medal upon being freed from captivity.
