The crew of the Moskva cruiser, which was shipwrecked in the Black Sea on Thursday, could not be saved, a Ukrainian military official said on Friday April 15, saying that Moscow would not “
forgive
” Kiev for having sunk this vessel. "
symbol of its imperialist ambitions
".
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"
We are fully aware that we will not be forgiven for the Moskva attack
," said Natalia Goumeniuk, spokeswoman for the military command of the southern region of Ukraine, during a briefing.
Storm preventing rescue
The strike against the Moskva, flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles, "
did not only hit the ship, it hit the imperial ambitions of the enemy
", he said. she felt.
"
We observed the boats trying to help her, but even the forces of nature were on the side of Ukraine
", because "
a storm prevented the rescue of the boat and the evacuation of the crew
", she asserted.
“We are aware that the attacks against us will intensify, that the enemy will take revenge, that there will be missile attacks and artillery bombardments.
We are ready, we counter them.
There are attacks against us, including missile strikes”
Natalia Goumenyuk
But she added that she could not give details for the moment on the fate of the crew
,
"
for lack of reliable data
".
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the crew - more than 500 people - had been "
evacuated to other ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the vicinity
".
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But he did not say whether it was the entire crew or give any details.
Moscow also did not confirm that the boat had suffered a missile attack, simply saying that a fire had broken out on board the 186-meter-long missile vessel, detonating ordnance.
Towing attempt
And that the cruiser then sank during an attempt to tow it to the nearest port.
Natalia Goumenyuk has confirmed that Ukraine now expects retaliation from Moscow, which has already struck overnight from Thursday to Friday an arms factory southwest of kyiv which manufactured the Neptune missiles used, according to the Ukrainians , against the Moskva, and threatened to intensify its attacks on the capital.
“
We are aware that the attacks against us will intensify, that the enemy will take revenge, that there will be missile attacks and artillery bombardments.
We are ready, we counter them.
There are attacks against us, including missile strikes
,” she added.
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She did not mention the strike on the Vizar arms factory, which was badly damaged, but the bombardments in the south of the country, in particular on the city of Mykolaiv, near Odessa.