Russia reveals casualties in the sinking of the flagship Moskva.
Following the fire on April 13, the Black Sea Fleet's flagship Moskva suffered serious damage due to an exploding ammunition depot. One serviceman was killed and 27 crew members are missing.
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| Russia's flagship, Moskva. Photo: Getty Images |
According to RT, the announcement was made by the Russian Ministry of Defense on April 22. The Ministry of Defense stated: “During the handling of the incident, one serviceman died, 27 sailors are missing, and the remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruiser to Black Sea Fleet ships in the area and transported to Sevastopol.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense added that the vast majority of officers and sailors currently serving on the flagship Moskva have expressed a desire to continue serving on ships of the Black Sea Fleet.
Some soldiers who wish to transfer to other garrison units will continue to serve on ships of other fleets.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said it is providing support and assistance to the relatives and friends of those killed and missing following the incident involving the flagship Moskva.
The Russian military previously announced that the flagship Moskva sank while being towed to port in stormy sea conditions. The Ministry of Defense stated that the warship's hull was damaged by an explosion in the ammunition depot caused by a fire on board.
Following the Russian military's statement about the fire on the flagship Moskva, Ukraine said the ship had been hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile. Maxim Marchenko, head of the Odessa regional military administration, stated that the serious damage to the Moskva was caused by a Ukrainian Neptune missile fired from Odessa.
Russia has been sending troops into Ukraine since the end of February, after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreement. Russia has recognized the self-proclaimed Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
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| Members of the crew of the Moskva. Screenshot from a video by the Russian Ministry of Defense. |
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral state and never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kyiv maintains that the Russian attack was completely unprovoked and rejects claims that it plans to retake the two republics by force.
The Moskva cruiser has a displacement of 12,500 tons and is equipped with numerous anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. The Moskva is the only Slava-class cruiser in the Black Sea Fleet. The Russian Navy also has two similar cruisers, the Marshal Ustinov and the Varyag, which are deployed in the Northern Fleet and the Pacific Fleet, respectively.
The cruiser Moskva was designed and built at the Mykolai shipyard in Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union, in 1979. The main purpose of this project was to counter US carrier strike groups, providing air defense capabilities for Soviet warships operating in distant seas. At the time, the Moskva was nicknamed the "carrier killer".
The Institute for the Study of War (IOW), a US-based organization that monitors developments in the Ukraine conflict, said it was too early to assess whether the Moskva warship sank due to being hit by a Ukrainian missile or due to another incident.
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| The flagship Moskva during its transit through the Bosphorus Strait in Türkiye in 2021. Photo: Reuters |
From a military perspective, the loss of the flagship Moskva is not a major blow to Russia. According to the IOW, this cruiser was primarily used to carry out attacks with Kalibr cruise missiles against Ukrainian military facilities and targets, such as logistics centers and airport runways.
"Russian Kalibr missile launches from warships were also effective, but in much smaller numbers compared to bomber airstrikes. The sinking of the Moskva warship was not a major loss," IOW stated.
Russian military experts share a similar assessment. “This ship is really very old. In fact, Russia had planned to decommission it within the next five years… The ship is primarily of symbolic value, more for its commemorative significance than its actual combat value. Overall, the sinking of the ship will not affect the current military operation,” Russian military analyst Alexander Khramchikhin told Reuters.
The flagship Moskva briefly participated in the naval blockade of Ukraine in March 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea. In 2015, the ship was deployed to the Syrian coast, supporting Russia's military operation in the Middle Eastern country and creating an air defense network for Russian forces stationed in Syria.
