Russian flagship "Moskva": Missile cruiser sunk according to state agency
Created: 04/15/2022, 06:30
By: Michelle Brey
Heavy blow for Russia's navy in the Ukraine war: The warship "Moskva" was badly damaged - now it is said to have sunk.
Update from April 14, 10:03 p.m.:
New developments around the “Moskva”.
The stricken Russian missile cruiser has sunk, according to a report by the state agency TASS.
The report is based on information from the Russian Defense Ministry.
The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet went down during a storm on Thursday.
Ukrainian military had previously reported that the ship had been hit by an anti-ship missile (see initial report).
First report:
Kiev/Munich – The acts of war by Russian troops in Ukraine seem to have continued relentlessly on day 50 since the invasion.
The Russian Navy apparently suffered a heavy blow on Thursday.
The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been badly damaged.
While the reason - fire or rocket impact - is still being debated, it already seems clear: the naval war will probably become more difficult for the Russians in the escalated Ukraine conflict.
Russian flagship "Moskva": Sunk or "heavily damaged"?
While Moscow spoke of a munitions explosion on the missile cruiser Moskva, the Ukrainian side said they attacked the warship with missiles late on Wednesday evening.
The Russian flagship "Moskva" together with other ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet blocked the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Russian state media, citing the Defense Ministry, reported that the warship was "severely damaged."
It is one of the greatest material losses for the Russian army since the Russian invasion led by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on February 24.
According to the governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa, Maxym Marchenko, the "Moskva" was attacked with Ukrainian "Neptun"-type missiles.
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said the most important ship in the Russian Black Sea Fleet was on fire.
Russian flagship in the Ukraine war: According to the Pentagon, "Moskva" has not sunk
The Russian Ministry of Defense later announced that the "Moskva" had not sunk.
“There is no open fire.
The ammunition explosions have stopped.
The cruiser Moskva remains afloat,” the ministry said.
The ship's "main missile armament" was not damaged.
The crew had been evacuated and taken to nearby ships in the Black Sea, the ministry said.
The "Moskva" should now be towed into the port.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told
CNN
Thursday afternoon that the Moskva was not sunk but was badly damaged.
"Moskva": This is the warship of the Russian Navy - details
The
"Moskva"
was built
in Soviet times
and, according to Russian media reports , went
into operation in 1983
.
August 2008:
The ship was deployed in Georgia for the first time in an armed conflict.
2015:
According to the Russian news agency Tass, the warship with its 510 crew members was deployed in the eastern Mediterranean to protect the Russian Hmeimim air force base in Syria.
2018 and 2020:
According to the Ria Nowosti news agency, the ship was extensively overhauled and modernized twice.
In the Ukraine war:
At the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the ship attacked the Ukrainian island of Snakes, located near the Romanian border.
Radio communications with the Ukrainian border guards on the island went viral: When asked to surrender, the border guards replied, "F..ck you".
Shortly thereafter, the "Moskva" and the ship "Vassily Bykov" shelled the island, the Ukrainian soldiers were captured.
Equipment
: 16 Basalt/Wulkan anti-ship missiles, Osa and short-range missiles, rocket launchers and torpedoes.
War in Ukraine: Mariupol on the Sea of Azov as a strategically important city
According to experts, Moscow's goal is to establish a direct land connection between the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed in 2014, and the areas in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The port city of Mariupol, located on the Sea of Azov, is considered strategically decisive - the role of the ship "Moskva" is not insignificant.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko on Thursday (April 14, 2022) dismissed Russian claims about the capture of the port in the city.
"I consider it a hoax," said Boitschenko in the ARD morning show.
"We are firmly convinced that Mariupol was, is and will remain a Ukrainian city," emphasized Boitschenko, who was connected via video.
The port city has been under siege since February 24th.
The city, which once had over 400,000 inhabitants, has now been largely destroyed.
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of "tens of thousands" dead in the siege.
(mbr with dpa and AFP)