Contradictory reports about the Russian warship 'Moskva' | DW News

A vessel at the helm of Russia's Black Sea fleet has been badly damaged. Russia's Defense Ministry said that sailors had contained a fire on board the Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, and that measures were being taken to tow it back to port.

The ministry also announced the cruiser's main weaponry had not been damaged and that its crew had been evacuated onto other ships in the Black Sea.

However, Ukraine's southern military command said in a Facebook post that Moskva was hit with a Neptune missile on Wednesday, causing significant damage, and that the ship had started sinking.

The southern military command also mentioned that Russian rescue ships were hampered by ammunition exploding on board as well as bad weather.

The Moskva was originally built in the Soviet era and was previously deployed in the Syria conflict where it served as naval protection for the Russian forces' Hmeimim airbase.

Follow DW on social media:

#Russia #Ukraine #Moskva

[RickTheClipper]

The warship Moskva has not sunk it has simply been reclassified as a new type of one-way submarine and is on a special underwater mission

[shinestar]

What's better optics? "The Ukranians sunk my battleship!" or "Our sailors sunk our battleship!"

[Bonpu]

„Accidental explosion of ammo“ — seems a common problem with their tanks too.

[williamswenson]

The consideration shown by the Russians in converting the Moskva into an artificial reef needs to be acknowledged.

[TheWebstaff]

Its not an explosion it's a rapid unscheduled disassembly event.

[alexfortin]

Which is worse?
A) Ukraine destroying Russia’s flagship
B) Russia destroying Russia’s flagship

[rivi]

I'd like to point out that "evacuated the entire crew" sounds nice, but the more common term is "the ship was abandoned". That basically means she's finished, sunk or not. She will need rebuilding and be out of operations for a long time.

[cstuff]

Taking the Moskva out of action has much more strategic relevance than mentioned here. First of all, it removes one ship which could target the south and west of the country with cruise missiles, but more important, it makes very clear the Russian navy does not have complete freedom of movement, and has to stay relatively far away from Ukraine controlled coastlines.

[xjvewtk]

It is better for Russia to capitulate as soon as possible, before they are even more embarrassed in the world. What a shame for Russia. 1. It is a flagship. 2. Bears the name of the capital of Russia.

[Chew]

It wasn't a missile strike, it was a special guided-projectile operation.

[blueridger]

You'd think it would be more humiliating to say your own sailors sunk thier own ship. It sounds more humiliating to me .

[Rob-uczr]

It wasn’t a warship, it was a special tour boat operation studying the effects of camp fires on the open sea

[jamisbillson]

Those holding out in Mariupol are true warriors.

[TREON.is.Bathit.Crazy.U.S.G]

Russia: No sailor died, but there were a few who wanted to see God, so they left the ship.😂

[bobsnow]

The Russian line that it was just a fire would actually be WORSE. A fire in the ammo stores without having been hit would suggest extreme incompetence.

[nigeljohnson]

It shows how serious this is for Russia, they would prefer to admit incompetence by blowing up their own ship, rather than admit the Ukrainians sunk it.

[manolingz]

Claiming that 'as a result of a fire, ammunitions detonated onboard Moskva cruiser' is more embarrassing than admitting
it was a Ukrainian💙💛 missile hit because it would mean the Russian navy is run by clumsy drunken sailors. 😂

[slightlyconfused]

When Britain launched a new aircraft carrier a few years ago a Russian minister said "It will make a big target for our missiles". I wonder if he knows what irony is?

[pho-kingsoup]

Aside from the massive losses, Russia continues to show the world how crappy their entire military is.

[vybfjxv]

20, 000 Russian troops were not killed by Ukraine Soldiers, they just all suffered a sudden heart attack.