Russian warship explodes, heavy damage

The entire crew of the missile cruiser Moscow was evacuated after an ammunition depot explosion caused by a fire – RT quoted a statement by the Ministry of Defense Russia said the evening of April 13. The Russian military said the cruiser suffered “serious damage”, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

The Slava-class missile cruiser, launched in 1979, is armed with 16 anti-ship missiles and numerous anti-aircraft missiles, torpedoes and artillery. The warship is part of the Black Sea Fleet, and has been engaged in operations off Ukraine since February.

Kiev authorities announced on the evening of April 13 that a battery of Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles hidden in Odessa successfully attacked the Moscow ship twice, setting the cruiser on fire. Among those who made the statement were Maksim Marchenko, commander of the military forces in Odessa, and Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry in Kiev.

However, both of the aforementioned officials did not provide any evidence for their claims. A Ukrainian Telegram channel is said to have posted – then deleted – a photo of an Iranian ship burning and sinking in the Gulf of Oman last year.

The alleged attack on the cruiser Moscow comes just a day after Ukraine issued a postage stamp describing the event.Snake Island‘ fictitious, in which 13 Ukrainian soldiers are said to have cursed the same ship before heroically dying. In fact, 82 Ukrainian servicemen surrendered to the Russian Navy without a fight, and there is no evidence of any alleged exchange ever taking place.

Ukraine also claims to have destroyed the Vasily Bykov, another ship involved in the capture of Snake Island. Ukrainian media on March 7 reported that a barrage of shells hit and sank the Bykov, after two speedboats were trapped. However, this ship appeared in Sevastopol on March 16 unharmed.