The Russian Defense Ministry has officially reported that the Black Sea fleet flagship, missile cruiser Moskva, has sunk.
This was reported by Russia’s RIA Novosti.
The day before, the Ukrainian military fired two of its novel Neptune cruise missiles, hitting the vessel.
“During the tugging of the Moskva cruiser to the port of destination due to damage to the hull, received as a result of the fire caused by the detonation of munitions, the ship lost stability. In the conditions of storm waves at high sea, the ship sank,” the statement reads.
The Telegraph wrote that without the Moskva cruiser, the Russian Black Sea fleet will be vulnerable to missiles and drones. It is the only warship in the fleet equipped with S-300F air defense systems. In this way, Moscow provided air cover to other vessels during their operations, including coastal strikes and landing maneuvers.
Earlier, the Pentagon said that, according to the United States officials, the damaged Moskva vessel remained afloat for some time amid efforts to put out a fire. It was moving eastward, likely to the port of Sevastopol, for repairs. However, the Pentagon later said it was no longer sure whether the ship would still be able to navigate on its own.
In the evening of April 14, the head of the Odesa regional military administration, Maksym Marchenko, said that Russia’s Moskva cruiser, which was lined up the day before by the Ukrainian military, is currently on fire in the Black Sea.
