Russia Confirms Warship Severely Damaged, Abandons Crew

The 12,500 tonne Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet was severely impaired when the ammunition on it blew up, quoting the defense ministry, Interfax news agency quoted on Thursday. The crew members have also abandoned it.

The blast is a military setback for Russia, which already has suffered some blows since the country invaded Ukraine on 24 Feb in what Moscow refers to as a “special military operation” meant to “denazify” the nation.

Interfax mentioned that the crew members were and cited that the ministry was blaming the blast on fire, stating that the cause was under investigation.

Image Credits: Russian MoD

The ship typically has about 500 members. News agencies of Russia reported that it was commissioned in 1983. Moskva was also armed with about 16 anti-ship “Vulkan” cruise missiles that boasted a range of 700 km.

In April last year, the agency had quoted a retired admiral of Russia to be saying that this was the most serious vessel in the Black Sea.

Kyiv mentioned that the Moskva featured in one of the landmark early exchanges of the war, when the border guards of Ukraine positioned on the Snake Island, a smaller outcrop in the Black Sea, had rejected its command to the Russians to surrender.

Even though officials of Ukraine said that 13 guards had been killed in the subsequent attack on Russia, President Zelenskiy later mentioned that some of them managed to survive.

Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the region around the port of Odesa, said that the Moskva had earlier been targeted by two Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles made in Ukraine; however, he did not share further evidence.

He mentioned in a post made online that it was confirmed that the Moskva went where the border guards on Snake Island have asked it to go.

Last month Ukraine reported that the missile cruiser had destroyed a huge Russian landing support ship dubbed the Orsk. Moscow has not commented on what had happened to it.

Reference: ndtv.com

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Source: Maritime Shipping News