Ukraine-Russia war: Russia says the crew on the damaged missile cruiser has been evacuated. (file)
Odessa:
Russian state media said on Thursday that the Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship has been “severely damaged” by an ammunition explosion.
“As a result of the fire, the ammunition on the Moskva missile cruiser exploded. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying. The cause of the fire was being determined and the crew was evacuated.
Earlier, the governor of Odessa said that the Ukrainian army had launched missile attacks on Moscow.
“Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!” Governor Maxim Marchenko wrote on Telegram.
Oleksey Erestovich, adviser to the President of Ukraine, said there was “a surprise” with Moscow.
“It burns hard. Right now. And with this stormy sea, it’s unknown whether they’ll be able to get help,” he said in a YouTube broadcast.
“We don’t understand what happened.”
The Moscow was originally built in the Soviet era in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and entered service in the early 1980s, according to Russian media.
With a crew of 510, it was previously deployed in the Syrian conflict where it served as a naval defense for the Russian Army’s Hamimim airbase.
The report said the missile cruiser carries 16 P-1000 Vulcan anti-ship missiles as well as a range of anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons.
Moscow gained notoriety at the start of the war, when it called on Ukrainian border troops defending the strategic Snake Island to surrender, only defensively refused.
The soldiers in question are believed to have been killed initially, but were actually taken captive.
According to the Ukrainian parliament, he was released in late March as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova said the soldiers had described being taken to an undisclosed location where they were kept in freezing conditions and suffered frostbite.
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