Russia moved its ships south to the north of the Black Sea following the damage to its flagship, the missile cruiser “Moskva”, as detailed on Thursday by a senior official of the US Department of Defense.
In a call with journalists, the US source said that “less than half a dozen” Russian vessels operating scattered in the northern Black Sea moved south, following “significant damage” to the “Moskva”, whose origin has not yet been confirmed by the US. Ukraine claimed to have hit that ship with a missile, while Moscow reported a fire.
The US Defense official explained that, according to the information available to him, the cruise ship was “between 60 and 65 nautical miles” (between 111 and 125 kilometers) south of the port city of Odessa when it suffered an explosion.
“It seems that they are still dealing with the fire on board and we don't know the amount of damage or if there have been casualties among their crew,” said the source, adding that the ship would have suffered significant damage.
The official explained that on the deck of this type of vessel there are usually flammable elements that can cause a fire or explosions, such as fuel, ammunition or artillery pieces. “It could have been the result of a missile attack, it could have been something else,” he ventured.
However, the official claimed that the “Moskva” was at a distance from the coast that placed it within range of Ukrainian anti-ship Neptune missiles, although, he insisted, the US currently does not have enough data to confirm or deny whether the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian shell.
The Neptune is an anti-ship missile recently developed by Ukraine and based on an earlier Soviet design. The launchers are mounted on trucks parked near the coast and, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, missiles can hit targets at a distance of up to 280 kilometers.
According to the US, the “Moskva” was moved eastwards and would now be heading to Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, to be repaired.
Russia said that the crew of the warship had been evacuated and that steps were being taken to tow the wrecked ship back to port.
The loss or disuse of Moskva would be a major setback for Russia, on the 50th day of its war in Ukraine, as it prepares for a new assault on the eastern Dombas region that would likely define the outcome of the conflict.
Its great military value lies in the fact that it functioned as a platform for air defense and the bombardment of ground targets with missiles. The Russian Navy has launched cruise missiles into Ukraine and its activities in the Black Sea are critical to supporting ground operations in the south of the country, where it struggles to gain full control of the port of Mariupol.
Also, it will be impossible to replace for this conflict, since the only passage to the Black Sea is through the Bosphorus, but Turkey has closed the passage of the strait to military traffic.
Russian news agencies said that Moskva, which entered service in the Soviet era in 1983 and participated in the Russian intervention in Syria starting in 2015. It was armed with 16 anti-ship Vulkan cruise missiles with a range of at least 700 km.
Ukraine did not delay in celebrating the attack. “The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine! ” Governor Maksym Marchenko wrote in Telegram. An adviser to the Ukrainian President, Oleksiy Arestovich, indicated that the ship “had a surprise” and stressed “right now it burns strongly.”
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, later said that he could not confirm that the ship had been sunk or even hit by Ukrainian forces. He said he was aware of the comments of other Ukrainian officials, but that he “could not confirm or deny” what happened.
“If it is confirmed, or when it is confirmed, we can only sigh of relief because this means that fewer missiles will reach Ukrainian cities,” he told the AP.
The United States was unable to confirm Ukraine's claims about the attack on the warship, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. Even so, he called it “a big blow to Russia.” “They have had to choose between two stories: One story is that it was just incompetence, and the other is that they were attacked, and neither is particularly the good outcome for them,” Sullivan told the Economic Club of Washington.
Moskva staged one of the first prominent clashes of the war, when Ukrainian border guards on the Island of Snakes, a small promontory on the Black Sea, responded with a snub to the imposing ship.
When they demanded that they surrender, they challenged: “Russian warship, go to hell!” . The phrase remained a war cry and was already immortalized on t-shirts and even on a Ukrainian postage stamp.
At first it was thought that the detachment had been killed, but in reality they were taken hostage and then released in a prisoner exchange with Russia in late March, according to the Ukrainian parliament.
(With information from EFE, Reuters, AFP, AP)
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