The missile cruiser “Moskva”, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was hit on Wednesday by “Neptune” missiles, which caused “serious damage”, announced a Ukrainian military source.
The head of Odessa's regional military administration, Maksym Marchenko, announced on Telegram on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army hit the Russian cruiser “Moskva” with missiles, according to the Ukrinform agency.
“It has been confirmed that the Moskva missile cruiser today was exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island! The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!” , the Ukrainian authorities reported.
Russia acknowledged that the ship is on fire, but said it is as a result of the detonation of ammunition following a fire.
Mosvka gained notoriety at the beginning of the Invasion of Ukraine when Ukrainian border troops defending a strategic island reportedly told him to “go to the crap” after he asked them to surrender.
The Russian warship is undoubtedly the most powerful in the Black Sea. The vessel is the one that commands any naval assault in the region.
The Moskva has a large battery of 12,500-ton mobile missiles, anti-ship missiles and air defense missiles. Its length is 612 feet and can accommodate 500 people on board, Forbes reported.
Moskva joined the Soviet Navy in 1982. The vessel was built as a conventional alternative to Kirov-class nuclear-powered battleships.
In detail, the vessel has 16 fixed launchers for P-1000 anti-ship missiles with a range of 483 kilometers, vertical tubes for 64 S-300 air defense missiles with a range of 90 kilometers, and rail launchers for 40 Osa missiles for air self-defense. It also has powerful 130-millimeter machine guns that can hit targets 24 kilometers away, torpedoes and a helicopter.
Moskva has Top Pair and Top Steer radars that allow you to capture targets or threats more than 322 kilometers away.
The Russian warship was key in the maritime assault on Georgia in 2008, where it helped protect three amphibious ships that landed the naval infantry battalions. And he also led the Russian invasion of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine in 2014, where he blocked Ukrainian warships.
The attack on Moskva was not the only one on Russian warship. On March 24, a month after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian navy claimed to have destroyed a Russian ship anchored in the port of Berdiansk, a city near Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. Moscow had not confirmed that information. The Russian army rarely offers data on its losses.
On that occasion, the Ukrainian navy also claimed to have destroyed a Russian troop landing ship docked in the port of Berdiansk, in the south of the country, and controlled by the Russian army.
A statement from the Ukrainian navy claims that it is the landing ship “Orsk” of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy.
Keep reading: