What is left of Moscow’s 186-meter-long, one of Russia’s largest naval ships is still unclear. Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the cruiser had sunk. “The biggest defeat of the Russian fleet since World War II,” the adviser wrote on Twitter.
But Russia claims the fire that broke out in Moscow has been put out. According to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, it is trying to tow a warship back to port. The last time such a large naval vessel entered the war was nearly 40 years ago when a British submarine torpedoed Argentine Admiral Belgrano during the Falklands War. There were 323 deaths at the time.
According to the Russians, passengers from Moscow were evacuated. It is not clear how many people are involved, but there is room for 480 people on board. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. Moscow says a fire broke out on the ship on Wednesday night, after which the ammunition exploded. “The ship suffered serious damage,” the ministry said in response to announcements on Ukrainian social networks that Moscow was a target of Ukrainians.
The ministry was silent on the cause of the fire. The explosion must have been large, as the cruiser was armed with about 120 missiles to destroy ships and planes.
Ukrainian cruise missiles
However, Ukraine, which has watched Black Sea Fleet ships fire salvos of cruise missiles in recent weeks, has a completely different story. According to the governor of the region around the port city of Odessa, Maksym Marchenko, Moscow would be hit by two Ukrainian cruise missiles Neptune. However, the government in Kiev has not yet confirmed that. Marchenko also said the warship had suffered extensive damage. “Hallelujah,” the governor said in a telegram message.
He referred to the deployment of Moscow at the beginning of the Russian invasion. The ship was then involved in an operation to expel Ukrainian troops from the small Snake Island in the Black Sea. However, they refused to leave and told the Russians to go ‘to hell’. “Moscow went exactly where the border guards on Snake Island said they should go today,” Marchenko said.
If the cruiser was the target of a daring Ukrainian attack, the question arises as to why Moscow could not defend itself. The ship has S-300 missiles to destroy enemy cruise missiles. Neptune is a derivative of the Russian cruise missile and was launched last year. With this projectile, ships can be bombed from land up to three hundred kilometers in the sea.
Efficient
The Ukrainian cruise missile has been tested in recent years. This would prove to be quite effective. It is unclear how many Neptunes Ukraine has and why weapons, if there were indeed attacks, Ukraine have only now used.
The Ukrainian military has targeted another Russian warship in recent weeks, but it is not known which missile was used. In March, the landing ship Orsk was hit directly by the occupied port city of Berdyansk. Footage showed that Orsk was burning and badly damaged.
Last week, it became clear that the Russians must fear for the security of their Black Sea Fleet. The British promised to deliver anti-ship missiles to Kiev last week. This delivery makes it difficult for the Russian navy to operate in complete freedom off the Ukrainian coast. However, British missiles have not yet arrived. Now, if Neptune cruise missiles also pose a significant threat to Russian ships, Moscow has an even bigger problem.