Ukrainian officials said the Black Sea Fleet, a Russian warship, had been targeted by a missile fired by Ukrainian forces, and that Russia had confirmed that the ship had been severely damaged. Ukrainian army spokesman Sergei Brachuk said the ship was attacked by a domestic Neptune cruise missile.
The Moscow flagship also made headlines in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine when it warned 13 Ukrainian soldiers on the small island of Snake to surrender. At the time, they released an audio file in which the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the small island of Snake refused to surrender and told the ship, “Go to hell.” Ukraine initially said all of those soldiers had been killed, but then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some of the Ukrainian border guards had been captured, released in exchange for prisoners and returned to Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has announced a medal of bravery to all 13 border guards who refused to surrender to the Moscow warship.
The US government has described the sinking of the cruise ship as a “fatal blow” to the Russian navy. Defense Department spokesman John Kirby stressed that the sinking of “Moscow” would have consequences for the Russian navy’s operational capability in the region.
He told CNN that the cruise ship played a key role in Russia’s efforts to “dominate the Black Sea.”
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also said: Either way the damage to the Moskva was a “big blow to Russia.” He continued: “The Russians must either blame the explosion on their incompetence or accept that their warship has been hit by a missile.”
The Moskva was not only the largest and most powerful ship in the Black Sea, but it also served as Russia’s command headquarters for all its naval operations in the region.
