The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was “seriously damaged” on Thursday after an explosion that Ukrainian officials claimed was due to their missile strike.
The Moskva cruiser is a 12,000-ton, Soviet-era, heavily modernised guided missile cruiser. Originally called “Glory”, it was first built at a shipyard in Nikolaev and commissioned in 1982.
The Russian defence ministry, according to state media, said ammunition detonated as a result of a fire on the Moskva missile cruiser. The crew had been evacuated while the reasons for the fire are being investigated, it added.
While Russian officials did not name Ukraine, Odesa governor Maksym Marchenko said the Moskva had been hit by two Ukraine-built Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.
“The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea inflicted very serious damage on the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine,” Mr Marchenko said on social media.
Russian news agencies said that the ship was armed with 16 anti-ship Vulkan cruise missiles with a range of at least 700km.
This is the same ship that was involved in a standoff in the remote Snake island in the early days of the war.
On 27 February, 13 border guards had been defending the Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, a largely uninhabited but strategically important strip of land in the Black Sea, about 300km west of Crimea, when the Russian vessel had approached.
As Russian soldiers asked the Ukrainian guards to lay down their weapons or be “bombed”, two Ukrainian guards could be heard engaging in a brief exchange, saying: “Should I tell them to go f*** themselves?” – before responding with: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
With Thursday’s explosion, the Moskva is the second major ship known to have suffered serious damage since the start of the war, reported Reuters.
Last month, Ukraine said it had destroyed a landing support ship, the Orsk, on the Sea of Azov.
Russia’s activities in the Black Sea are crucial to supporting land operations in the south of Ukraine, where it is battling to seize full control of the port of Mariupol.
In a video address on Wednesday night, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Russian forces are increasing their activities on the southern and eastern fronts, attempting to avenge their defeats.”
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