The Russian news agency "Rea" announced tonight (Thursday) that the flagship of the Russian Navy, the missile patrol "Moscow", sank in the Black Sea sank during attempts to tow and rescue during a storm.
"During the tow of the ship 'Moscow' to the destination port, the ship lost its stability due to the damage to the ship's body during the fire and the explosion of ammunition on board. Due to the stormy sea conditions, the ship sank," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The announcement puts an end to rumors about the ship's condition, but even now the Kremlin does not admit that the ship was hit by gunfire.
According to reports in Ukraine, the ship, carrying a crew of 500 sailors, was hit by a Neptune missile, missiles manufactured by the Ukrainian arms industry in the city of Mykolaiv, and began to come under fire.
A military source in Russia reported anonymously that the Ukrainians used a Biraktar UAV to distract the ship's defenders as two Neptune cruise missiles were fired at it.
This is a severe military blow to Russia's prestige and damage to a significant asset of the Russian navy.
In addition, the missile ship also serves as a major air defense platform and its removal from the arena will enable the increase in air activity of the Ukrainian Air Force in the southeast of the country.
In addition, the damage to the ship also has symbolic significance as it took part in the shelling of "Snake Island", an incident during which a Ukrainian commander was asked by a large Russian force to surrender and replied "Russian battleship, go to hell".
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