RTS Moskva (121), the Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship, has suffered major damage and the crew has abandoned the ship.
RTS Moskva (121), the Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship, has suffered major damage and the crew has abandoned the ship, state media said late on Apr. 13, 2022 in reports following Ukrainian claims of hitting the ship with a missile strike.
According to state-run outlet TASS, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the mishap on RTS Moskva, a ship in the country’s Black Sea Fleet.
The Russian Defense Ministry also told TASS that the crew of the Moskva abandoned the ship.
A fire broke out on the ship, causing ammunition to detonate, TASS said. State media did not elaborate on the cause of the fire.
As reported by USNI News, Ukrainian officials claimed that shore-based anti-ship guided missiles hit Moskva which had been operating from the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea.
“It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!” Odesa governor Maksym Marchenko said in a Telegram message on Tuesday. “Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship.”
First fielded in 2021, Neptunes are based on the Soviet AS-20 ‘Kayak’anti-ship missile which is similar to the US-built Harpoon missile.
Moskva (Russian: Москва, lit. ’Moscow’), formerly Slava (Russian: Слава, lit. ’Glory’), is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy. She was the lead ship of the Project 1164 Atlant class and was named after the city of Moscow. It is the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The Slava class is a class of guided missile cruisers designed and constructed in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy, and currently operated by the Russian Navy.
Originally 10 ships were planned, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union only three were completed [along with Moskva, the two other Slavas are RTS Marshal Ustinov (055) and RFS Varyag (011) that have been operating in the Mediterranean].
According to USNI News, before Moskva, another Russian warship had been damaged in the nearly 50-day invasion of Ukraine: a landing ship sank off the port of Ukrainian city Berdiansk after being attacked by Ukrainian forces.
The ship’s fire ultimately damaged a merchant ship at port in Berdiansk, causing damage.
Photo credit: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and Ukraine MoD Photo
