Russia s Black Sea Flagship Abandoned, Damaged After Ukraine Claims Missile Strike Sinks It – WSJ

KYIV, Ukraine The flagship of Russia s Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, was seriously damaged and abandoned by its crew after its ammunition blew up, Russia s Defense Ministry said. A Ukrainian military spokesman said the ship had been hit by cruise missiles, causing it to capsize and start to sink.

The Moskva s crew, which usually numbers some 500 sailors, was rescued after a fire that led to the explosion, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agencies. It said the fire had been put out, explosions of ammunition had been stopped and that the vessel was still afloat. It didn t say what caused the fire and hasn t responded to claims that the vessel was sinking.

Russian senior lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin said some sailors had likely died in the attack.

The Moskva and other Russian ships in the Black Sea have been used to fire cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities since the war began on Feb. 24, targeting infrastructure, fuel depots, military bases and civilian administrative buildings across the country.

via www.wsj.com

See these threads on twitter to get the whole, effing glorious story:https://twitter.com/search?q=moskva&src=typeahead_click
This is the ship that the defenders of Snake Island told to “go f*&% yourself” when their surrender was demanded. The Ukrainians evidently hit it with two Neptune anti-ship missiles after distracting its radar with one of those Turkish-made drones. It was also quite stormy, and the missiles were apparently able to take advantage of the wave action to obscure their approach. The Moskva reportedly capsized and has now sunk. All this is unconfirmed of course, but it’s pretty plausible. And there won’t be any more capital ships from Russia either, as Turkey has closed the entrance to the Black Sea to warships. This is a big morale boost for the Ukrainians, who can use some good news about now. Poor Vlad is having a harsh day.