“Mom, I won't tell you the details of what I saw, it was horrendous”: the sailors rescued from the Moskva deny the Kremlin

Testimonies that began to circulate after the sinking of the missile cruiser Moskva strongly question the official Russian version of the loss of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of Vladimir Putin, account of the heavy losses suffered by Russia and show the fury against the Kremlin of parents who lost their children after the impact of Ukrainian missiles.

The statement of a conscript sailor who witnessed the attack on Moskva was revealed by Novaya Gazeta, Russia's leading investigative media outlet, which now operates from outside the country after being gagged by Putin.

The anonymous survivor told his mother in tears that at least 40 crew members died in the attack, with “many missing” and mutilated with lost limbs.

“The first time I heard from him was on April 15, two days after the incident,” the mother said.

“My son said that the cruise ship was hit from land, from the Ukrainian side, because the fire on board would not have started without a reason,” he added.

“There are people killed, injured and missing,” he said. “My son called me as soon as they gave everyone phones [after they were rescued]. His own documents and phones were on the [sunk] cruise ship,” he added.

“He called me and cried because of what he had seen. It was horrible. Clearly, not everyone survived.”

The woman said: “Most of the wounded have limbs torn off, due to explosions from missiles and detonated ammunition.”

“He said, 'Mamochka, I never thought I would get into such a mess during supposedly peaceful times. I won't even tell you the details of what I saw, it was so horrendous.”

“I don't want to share her name because I'm afraid of harming my son,” the woman added. “They signed confidentiality agreements before boarding the cruise.”

“Please understand me, I'm terrified. I am petrified and I don't know how I will wait for my son to return.”

Another recruit's parents said they discovered that some 200 sailors were injured, many with horrific burns and other serious injuries.

Another father promised to discover the truth about his 20-year-old recruit son Yegor Shkrebets, a cook at Moskva, now missing and presumably dead.

The fury of the parents of the disappeared

He expressed the fury of parents who feel that the Russian authorities have lied to them.

Dmitry Shkrebets, from annexed Yalta in Crimea, said: “It was reported [by Russian state media] that the entire crew had been evacuated.”

“It's a lie. A blatant and cynical lie,” he said.

“My son is a recruit, and as the immediate commanders of the Moskva cruiser informed me, he is not among the dead and injured and is included in the list of missing persons.”

“A recruit who was not supposed to participate in hostilities is listed as missing... missing on the high seas.”

“After my attempts to clarify the facts about the incident, the commander of the cruiser and his deputy stopped communicating,” the man added. “I asked directly: How is it that you officers are alive and my son, a recruit soldier, died?”

The media outlet Agentstvo identified another recruit, Mark Tarasov, 24, called after studying at the university.

His mother, Ulyana Tarasova, 47, posted on her VK page on April 17: “My son, Tarasov Mark, disappeared on the Moskva cruise ship.”

Moscow has admitted only one fire on board, causing an explosion. Photos released this Monday, taken from another boat, show very obvious damage, with an active fire in the center of the ship, which already appears partially tilted and sunk.

The area where the impact of the Ukrainian Neptune missiles would have occurred coincides with the area where anti-ship rockets usually aim and is also the area where the arsenal is stored in armored tubes. The ship's armament included 16 Vulkan anti-ship missiles and 64 S-300F anti-aircraft missiles on eight shuttles, as well as artillery, torpedoes and depth charges.

The ship was hit by missiles when it was about 65 nautical miles from Odessa (Ukraine) and was able to advance on its own for a few hours until it sank on Thursday. Pentagon sources assured that on board the ship were cruise missiles “which are now at the bottom of the Black Sea”.

The sinking of 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 went sinking on Thursday in the middle of a storm when it was towed into port, already without its crew, which had been evacuated on other ships of the Black Sea fleet.

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

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