“Moskva” badly damaged
Detonation on Black Sea Fleet flagship
04/14/2022, 5:12 am
A heavy blow to the Russian Navy: ammunition detonated on the “Moskva” and the most important ship in the Black Sea Fleet was badly damaged. The crew is evacuated. Ukraine had previously reported shelling the missile cruiser.
The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been badly damaged after a munitions explosion on board. “As a result of a fire on the guided missile cruiser “Moskva”, ammunition detonated,” said the Interfax news agency, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. The entire crew had been brought to safety. The 11,500 ton ship normally has a crew of around 500 people on board. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Interfax said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine cited an attack by the Ukrainian military as the reason for the severe damage to the Russian flagship. As the governor of the region around the port city of Odessa, Maxim Marchenko, explained in an online post, the “Moskva” was hit by two Ukrainian Neptun cruise missiles. There is no evidence for this yet. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to a request for comment.
According to Kiev, the “Moskva” was involved in one of the most important engagements at the beginning of the war, when Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island, a small promontory in the Black Sea, were attacked by the ship. The soldiers stationed there were called upon to surrender – but they did not comply. The alleged radio message from a Ukrainian Marian infantryman “Russian warship, f*** you!” has now achieved legendary status in Ukraine.
The “Moskva” was built in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv in Soviet times and entered service with the Black Sea Fleet in 1983. According to Russian information, the ship was equipped, among other things, with 16 anti-ship cruise missiles of the “Vulkan” type, which have a range of at least 700 kilometers.