As reported by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the cruiser “Moskva” sank after being hit by two Missiles “Neptune” MLRS of Ukraine.
When the cruiser was towed to the port of destination due to damage to the hull received during the fire from the detonation of ammunition, the ship lost stability. In the face of stormy sea waves, the ship sank.
In the language of Russian propaganda, the cruiser Moskva made a negative surface.
According to Turkish rescuers who participated in the rescue of sailors after the explosion of ammunition on the cruiser, 52 sailors were rescued.
Recall, the crew of the cruiser “Moskva” was 510 people.
The cruiser ‘Moskva’ is one of the three missile carriers of the Russian fleet of the ‘Slava’ class. In addition to the Moskva, two more missile cruisers of this type are now in the Mediterranean Sea. These are the cruiser “Marshal Usitinov” and the cruiser “Varyag”.
This type of ships was built in the period from 1982 to 1989 at the shipyard of Mykolaiv, now it is the territory of Ukraine.
The cruiser “Moskva” is equipped with 16 launchers of “Basalt” missiles (according to other sources, “Caliber” missiles), has on board 3 air defense systems – long, medium and short range, anti-submarine bomb launchers and 2 torpedo tubes.
According to some reports, the air defense system was able to distract the Ukrainian Bayraktar drone of Turkish production and 2 Neptune anti-ship missiles hit the target.
The disabling of such a powerful ship as the Moskva significantly weakened the grouping of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine.
In addition, the air defense of the cruiser “Moskva” provided air cover for the Russian ground forces occupying Kherson. This weakening could not but affect the advance of the ground forces of Ukraine.
Today, the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated several rural settlements of the Kherson region of Ukraine.
It is likely that the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson region will continue at a faster pace since Russia’s air defense in this area is significantly weakened.
Insiders report that the military operation to attack the cruiser “Moskva” was carried out after an unidentified ship appeared on the radars of the Ukrainian air defense 150 miles from Odessa. Then the Ukrainian command requested satellite images from the US military intelligence. The United States provided the Ukrainian side with the requested information.
The pictures showed an Atlant-class warship owned by the Russian Navy. At that time, there was only one ship of this type in the Black Sea – the cruiser Moskva.
It was decided to send the Bayraktar TB2 drone to the detected target. He was later joined by a second drone. While the drones distracted the air defense of the cruiser, 2 anti-ship missiles “Neptune” were launched from a mobile missile launcher.
At least one of the missiles reached the target after which the ammunition on the cruiser “Moskva” detonated.
