Russia: “Moskva” crew saved
“Meduza” reports at least 37 dead sailors
04/19/2022, 10:58 am
Journalists from the exile medium “Meduza”, among others, reveal that sailors do die when the “Moskva” sinks. There should be at least 37, many more are considered missing. Statements from relatives confirm this and testify to anger – especially since many sailors are doing military service.
The Russian exile medium “Meduza”, based in Riga, Latvia, has reported that at least 37 sailors of the sunken guided missile cruiser “Moskva” are said to have died. The medium relies on sources with good connections to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The bodies were taken to the port city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
The mother of one sailor told Novaya Gazeta that “around 40” sailors were killed. Meduza’s source also speaks of 100 injured sailors and many who fell overboard and are missing. A total of about 500 sailors are said to have been on the ship.
The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, does not report any deaths. Instead, the ship was “completely” evacuated. Russian media and the Defense Ministry released videos of a farewell event for the sunken Moskva and a meeting of the Moskva crew with Chief Admiral Nikolai Yermenov. However, only 100 to 200 sailors can be seen at a time. No information is given about the whereabouts of the remaining soldiers.
Russia continues to speak of an accident
Russia is still clinging to its history of the sunken “Moskva”. It denies any shelling of the cruiser. Instead, there had been an accident on board, which resulted in a fire. When the ship was to be towed into the port of Sevastopol, it sank due to stormy seas. The Ukrainian leadership insists that the ship was hit by Neptune anti-ship missiles and ultimately sunk. Photos and short video snippets that appear on social media make the thesis of the shelling much more likely.
“Meduza” has also managed to compile the names of individual killed and missing sailors. The wife of Sergeant Ivan Vakhrushev confirmed her husband’s death to reporters from Radio Liberty. Similarly, Vitaly Begersky, whose cousin told reporters from the Agentstvo investigative network that her cousin was dead.
Many sailors did their military service
In four other cases, relatives report that their sons were sailors on the “Moskva” and were reported missing. This applies, for example, to 19-year-old Andrey Tsyvov and Mark Tarasov, both of whom are said to have served on the ship as conscripts. A woman named Anna Syromyasova told “Meduza” that her son, also a conscript, disappeared from the “Moskva” and is currently considered missing. She said that there were no lists of all missing persons and that the relatives had to take care of themselves. The Russian military tell them nothing.
Dmitry Shkrebets expressed his anger on the Vkontakte portal. He even accuses the Russian military of lying. Accordingly, he was informed that his son, a conscript, was listed neither among the dead nor among the wounded, but was missing. He complains that conscripts are not officially supposed to take part in warlike activities, but apparently do. Radio Liberty journalists confirm that a sailor named Egor Shkrebets was listed as the ship’s cook on the “Moskva”. This emerges from a publication by the Baltic Fleet on December 24th. Dmitry Shkrebets also says that three other families contacted him and reported that their sons are all missing.