Russia revealed for the first time the number of casualties on the sunken flagship Moscow
One sailor was killed and 27 others are missing after the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, sank 10 days ago, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Tass news agency quoted a statement on April 22 by the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that the remaining 396 members of the crew of the cruiser Moskva were evacuated to other ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the region and was brought to the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
This is the first time Russian authorities have revealed the number of casualties on the Slava-class flagship of the navy since the ship sank on April 14. So far, Moscow and Kiev have given contradictory information about the incident.
Ukrainian authorities claimed that the Ukrainian forces fired two homemade Neptune anti-ship missiles that hit Moscow, causing damage and sinking the ship. In contrast, the Russian Defense Ministry on April 22 still asserted that Moscow had a fire that led to an explosion in the ship’s ammunition depot and sank to the bottom of the Black Sea while being brought into the port for repair amid rough seas. However, authorities did not specify the cause of the fire, other than admitting that the crew’s efforts to put out the fire were unsuccessful.
RT radio quoted a representative of the Russian military as saying, most of the officers and sailors on the staff of the Moscow flagship have expressed their desire to continue serving on other ships of the Black Sea Fleet. Some soldiers who want to move their garrison will be sent to work on ships belonging to other fleets. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it is providing all necessary assistance to the relatives and friends of the dead and missing sailors.
According to the BBC, the Moskva, weighing 12,500 tons, is the largest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War II. This is also the loss of the country’s first flagship in the war since a similar incident happened with the flagship Knyaz Suvorov of the Baltic Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
The Naval News website reported that the Moscow ship was carrying 16 P-1000 anti-ship missiles, 64 S-300F anti-aircraft missiles, and many torpedoes and anti-submarine missiles.
Images circulating on social media showed black smoke billowing above a warship believed to be the flagship Moskva before sinking. The ship is tilting to one side and the black holes in the hull could be a puncture caused by a rocket.
Tuan Anh
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vietnamnet.vn – Read the original article here
