Russian Navy Cruiser Moskva: Has the Moskva been hit?

After Ukraine claimed to have fired it down with cruise missiles, Russia’s Black Sea flagship was heavily damaged and may have sunk, in what would be yet another humiliating defeat for Vladimir Putin’s military forces.

According to the Ukrainian government, two Neptune cruise missiles fired from a coastal battery off the coast of Odesa hit the Moskva, a Soviet-era Slava class guided-missile cruiser, on Wednesday, April 2022 evening.

The 510-strong crew was evacuated when the ammo exploded, leaving the vessel ‘badly damaged,’ according to state media, though Moscow refused to reveal what caused the blaze, stating only that the event is being ‘investigated.’

However, a Russian military-linked Telegram channel said the ship was destroyed by missiles after Ukraine launched Bayraktar drones to confuse its radar warning systems. According to sources, the ship was struck twice on the port side, rolled over, and sank.

If true, the loss of the Moskva would be the single-biggest casualty inflicted on the Russian military by Ukraine so far in the war, as well as one of the largest ships lost in combat since the conclusion of the Second World War.