The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the warship Moskva sank while being towed to port in Crimea. Ukraine said it hit the ship with missiles overnight. The crew was reported to be evacuated.
One of the Russian Navy’s most important warships has sunk in the Black Sea, a massive blow to a military struggling against Ukrainian resistance 50 days into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbor.Russian state news agency TASS reported Thursday evening that the guided-missile cruiser Moskva had sunk, citing a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.”During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage received during a fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank,” the statement said, according to TASS.
The Washington Post adds important context:
After the explosion, several other Russian warships in the northern part of the Black Sea repositioned farther away from shore, the U.S. official said.
Experts and analysts said Ukraine’s claim of a successful strike was more credible than the explanations emerging from Moscow. But regardless of the cause, the episode buoys the morale of Ukrainian forces, who have repelled the Russian invasion for 50 days and were girding for a fresh round of fierce fighting in their eastern territory. The ship’s loss is a major, if symbolic, blow to Russia, said Artyom Lukin, an international relations professor at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia.