The United States confirms that the Russian ship Moskva was sunk by Ukraine

This Friday, sources from the Department of Defense of USA confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva (Moscow) sank after being hit by two Ukrainian missiles. This is the same version that holds Ukrainebut deny Russia.

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US media such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the CNN network quoted anonymous sources from the Pentagon, according to which US Intelligence reports indicate that the attack caused several deaths among the crew of the Moskva .

The Russian cruiser “Moskva” during the Black Sea naval exercises. (Photo: Russian Defense Ministry / AFP) (HANDOUT /)

Likewise, these sources also indicated that lifeboats were in charge of picking up the survivors in the Black Sea.

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The ship was hit by the missiles when it was about 65 nautical miles from Odessa, Ukraine, and was able to move on its own for a few hours until it sank on Thursday.

The sources of Pentagon They assured that cruise missiles were found on board the ship.that are now at the bottom of the Black Sea”.

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The sinking of the Mosvka, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, is a serious setback for Russia.

According to the version of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the ship sank on Thursday in the middle of a storm when it was towed to port, already without its crew, who had been evacuated in other ships of the Black Sea fleet.

This video grab taken and released by the Russian Defense Ministry on February 18, 2022, shows the Russian cruiser “Moskva” during Black Sea naval exercises outside the Crimean port of Sevastopol. (Photo: Russian Defense Ministry / AFP) (HANDOUT /)

Why is the Moskva such an important ship for Russia?

The flagship of the Russian navy in the Black Sea, the Moskva, in operation since the early 1980s, sank in a few hours, taking with it to the bottom a part of the pride of the president’s armed forces Vladimir Putinseverely punished since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

According to Moscow, the cruiser suffered a fire on board that caused the ammunition to explode. kyiv, for its part, claims a missile attack, the version backed by the Pentagon.

In both cases, “it is a very strong symbolic loss”, for the retired French admiral, Pascal Ausseurgeneral director of the analysis center Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies (FMES).

A ship like this should be able to stay in combat after one or several hits, and be able to control a fire. “It is a 12,000-ton ship that sank in 12 hours (…) It is not normal”, adds Ausseur to AFP.

The ship’s armament included 16 Vulkan anti-ship missiles and 64 S-300F anti-aircraft missiles in eight launchers, as well as artillery, torpedoes and depth charges.

The Moskva was also equipped with a Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter.

With a length of 186.5 meters, a beam of 20.8 meters and a displacement of 11,490 tons, the ship, which reached a maximum speed of 30 knots, was launched in 1979 and four years later entered service with the Soviet Navy. with the name of “Slava” (glory).

aerial protection

The ship could carry up to 680 soldiers on board, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, and “aensured the aerial protection of the rest of the ships during operations”, the spokesman for the Odessa regional military administration, Sergei Bratchuk, stated on Telegram.

Although, according to Western experts consulted by AFP, its loss at the operational level is, at the same time, enormous but manageable for Russia.

With its weapons, it fully protected a diameter of 150 kilometers around, Nick Brown, an expert at the British Janes Information Institute, explains to AFP. “With Turkey blocking Russian ships from the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, it will be difficult for Russia to replace its air defense capacity.“, Explain.

But “the rest of the Black Sea fleet remains a major force”, summarizes Brown, especially with the modern Admiral Grigorovich-type frigates, equipped with more advanced anti-aircraft defenses than those of the Moskva, although with a shorter range, and with Kalibr land-attack missiles.

But Moscow’s setback is considerable. Having relinquished control of Ukrainian airspace and showing its tactical and strategic weaknesses in the first weeks of the ground operation, now it is his navy that is affected.

“true vulnerability”

“The involvement of the Russian navy in the war was quite limited.”, says Maia Otarashvili, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Washington. But Moscow could take the attack into account if it thinks “involve the navy more directly in the conflict”.

Since, if it is confirmed that the Moskva was attacked with Neptune missiles (possibly combined with the use of drones), as the Ukrainians claim, the question arises about Ukraine’s weapons equipment.

“Does Ukraine have naval defense capabilities that Moscow did not assess?”, asks Otarashvili, who recalls that the government of President Volodimir Zelenski did not stop asking for coastal missiles for its defense. “What kind of anti-shipping missiles was Ukraine able to obtain recently?“, Add.

The Moskva went to the bottom of the Black Sea with its prestigious operational curriculum, forged in Georgia in 2008, and in Syria between 2015 and 2016.

“It was the command ship, and it probably had the naval staff of the area on board.”, concludes Pascal Ausseur, as well as with an experienced crew who judged that it was essential to evacuate the ship.

Now they will have to designate another ship to coordinate operations in the Black Sea.

“It is a very small sea, everything is within range of anti-ship missiles, and its detection is very simple”Ausseur adds. So the loss of the Moskva “shows real vulnerability” of the Russian Navy.

With information from EFE and AFP.

Source: Elcomercio