Updated 33 minutes ago
Battleship Moskva
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the sinking of the warship “Moskva”, amid controversy over the circumstances of the accident before it sank.
Ukraine had announced that it had hit the ship with missiles, but the Russian authorities said it had been badly damaged following a “fire and explosion”.
The ship sank while trying to tow it to a port in stormy weather.
Moskva’s crew consisted of 510 elements of the Russian Navy. The ship led the Russian fleet in the invasion of Ukraine, making it a symbol and a military target.
According to the Russian version, a fire broke out on board the ship, which led to an explosion of ammunition.
After Russia initially announced that the ship remained afloat, the Defense Ministry came late Thursday to announce its loss.
The ministry confirmed that the ship’s crew had completely left it following the accident and before it sank, and said that the fire that broke out on board the ship caused the explosion of ammunition, and added that all crew members had been rescued and evacuated from the ship to rescue boats in the Black Sea.
The ship, which weighs 12,490 tons, is the largest Russian warship to have sunk during its mission since World War II.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the ship lost its balance while being towed to the port as a result of damage to it due to the fire that had erupted in it following the explosion of the ammunition, and the crash of the waves led to its sinking in the end.
Ukrainian military officials said they hit the Russian ship “Moskva” with Ukrainian-made “Neptune” missiles, a weapon designed following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and following the growing naval threat to Ukraine in the Black Sea.
The United States described the sinking of the ship as a “major blow”, but US officials might not confirm that the ship sank as a result of being hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN that the possibility that the ship was hit by a Neptune missile was plausible.
And if the Ukrainian attack is confirmed, the “Moskva” will be the largest warship sunk by an enemy since World War II.
The Moskva is the second major ship Russia has lost since its invasion began. In March, the Saratov landing ship was destroyed by a Ukrainian attack in Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port in the Sea of Azov that Russia had seized.
Moskva entered service in the early 1980s. The ship was placed near the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, which has been heavily bombed by Russia in recent days.
Moscow previously deployed the guided-missile cruiser in the Syrian conflict, providing Russian forces in the country with naval protection.
According to reports, it had 16 Vulcan anti-ship missiles and an array of anti-submarine weapons and mine torpedoes.
The Moskva gained notoriety earlier in the conflict, when its crew called on Ukrainian border guards stationed on an island in the Black Sea to surrender, but the Ukrainians responded with the message to “go to hell.”
Impact on operations
“It’s more psychological than physical damage,” Nikola Beliskov of Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC. “It won’t remove the Russian blockade of Ukraine, but it is a powerful symbol that we can efficiently use sophisticated weapons.”
But Beliskov, an adviser to the Ukrainian government on issues of military strategy, predicted that Russian naval vessels would be forced to move away from Ukrainian shores where they no longer feel safe.
“Moskva” did not launch missiles at Ukrainian targets, but military experts told the BBC that it provided support for naval vessels that launched missiles in turn.
Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea will now be more vulnerable and an easier target for air strikes, but it is not clear if Ukraine’s position will allow it to take advantage of this opportunity.
“The Moskva was the only fleet in the fleet equipped with long-range air defences,” said Siddharth Kaushkal, a naval expert at the Royal United Services Institute.
Moskva’s war record
Moscow sent Moskva to Syria, where it secured naval protection for Russian forces operating there.
This is the second major naval vessel Russia has lost since the invasion.
Admiral Lord West said the loss of Moska was not only a major military blow but an embarrassment to Moscow as well.
Ukrainian frustration
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused European countries that continue to buy Russian oil of “making money with the blood of others”.
In an interview with the BBC, Zelensky singled out Germany and Hungary, accusing the two countries of blocking efforts to block energy sales from which Russia is expected to generate up to $326 billion this year.
There is frustration among the Ukrainian leadership towards Berlin, which has backed some sanctions once morest Russia, but has so far resisted calls to support tougher measures on oil sales.
“Some of our friends and partners are realizing that it’s a different time now, it’s no longer regarding money and business… it’s an issue of survival,” Zelensky told the BBC from his operating room in Kyiv on Thursday.
The Ukrainian president (right) said his country still desperately needs weapons from the West
The president also repeated his calls for more weapons to Ukraine, saying they were not getting the supplies fast enough to fend off the Russian attack.
“The United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries – they are trying to help and helping. But we still need it sooner and faster. The key word is now,” he said.
protracted struggle
Russian forces have withdrawn in recent weeks from areas around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and from other parts of the center and north of the country, apparently renouncing the attempt to seize all of Ukraine by force.
But there are now fears of a prolonged, bloody conflict in the east and south of the country, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has refocused his military campaign there in a bid to seize more territory.
The southern port city of Mariupol – a strategic target for President Putin – has been devastated by weeks of Russian artillery bombardment.
President Zelensky told the BBC he believed tens of thousands had been killed in the city.
“We also have information regarding the disappearance of tens of thousands of dead people. We know that their documents have been replaced, they were given Russian passports and taken deep into Russia, some to camps and some to other cities. No one knows what happens to these people. No one knows the number of dead.” .
Zelensky said the atrocities apparently committed by Russian forces in Mariupol, and in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Borodinka, further narrowed the possibility of peace talks with the Russians.
Hundreds of dead people have been found in Bucha since it was retaken by Ukrainian forces a little over a week ago, including civilians found with bullets to the head and hands tied behind their back, as well as widespread reports of sexual violence.
President Zelensky said: “Bocha is in the process of closing [احتمالات محادثات السلام]. It’s not regarding me, it’s regarding Russia. They won’t have many opportunities to talk to us.”
He said he “experienced the whole spectrum of feelings” when he visited Bucha last week, but ended that day with “only hatred towards the Russian army”. He accused President Putin and the rest of the Russian military “from top to bottom” of being “war criminals”.
picture released, Archyde.com
Destruction in Ukraine
Zelensky defended his leadership in the run-up to the Russian invasion that began in February, when his government urged the Ukrainian people to remain calm.
He said the government was working to agree deals on arms and supplies, as well as focusing on avoiding panic that might destabilize the Ukrainian economy.
“This is what Russia wanted – not just Russia – but we didn’t let that happen. But we didn’t expect a full-scale invasion when it happened,” he said.
Ukraine now faces a renewed offensive in the east and south as Russia tries to carve out more territory, following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.