Russia disagrees
Ukraine: Russian missile cruiser sunk
04/14/2022 12:32 p.m
According to Kyiv, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was hit by two Ukrainian Neptun missiles. After the fire on the missile cruiser, a Ukrainian presidential advisor now reports that the “Moskva” has gone under.
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has declared the Russian warship “Moskva” (“Moscow”), which was badly damaged in the Black Sea, to have sunk. “Where is the ‘Moskva’? It has sunk,” wrote Arestovych on Twitter and Telegram. However, there was initially no confirmation of this claim. The Ukrainian national television took up Arestovych’s tweet. Russia only spoke of serious damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, said the warship would now be towed back to port and the crew had been accommodated on other ships. The most important weapons of the “Moskva” were not damaged, and the ship is not in danger of sinking. The cause of the fire is now being investigated.
According to Kiev sources, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was hit by two Ukrainian Neptun missiles on Wednesday evening. The Russian Ministry of Defense had confirmed damage to the ship, but only spoke of a fire and gave no cause. The entire team had been brought to safety, it said in Moscow.
“Russian warship, fuck off!”
According to conflicting reports, the missile cruiser was hit either off the Serpent Island, which Russia had conquered, or in the Bay of Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean Peninsula. The more than 180 meter long “Moskva” was launched in 1979 and put into service in 1983. Missile attacks on Ukrainian territory were carried out from the flagship.
According to Ukrainian information, the cruiser was also involved in the capture of Snake Island, almost 35 kilometers east of the mouth of the Danube, at the end of February. The cruiser then asked Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms. According to a radio message that has become known, the Ukrainian marine infantryman Roman Hrybow is said to have replied: “Russian warship, fuck off!” In the meantime, this saying has become a dictum in Ukraine.
It would be the second larger Russian ship to be at least heavily damaged by Ukrainian missiles in the war of aggression that began seven weeks ago. Almost three weeks ago, a Russian Navy landing ship was sunk in the port of the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Berdyansk as a result of a rocket attack.