UKRAINE SAYS IT HIT RUSSIAN NAVAL CRUISER IN BLACK SEA WITH MISSILES

Thu 14 April 2022:

Ukraine said on Thursday (April 14) that it had fired Neptune missiles at the Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship, causing damage to the ship.

In a social media post, Odesa state regional administrator Maxim Marchenko reported that the Russian ship was damaged by two missiles. He did not, however, provide any additional evidence.

He said in a Telegram message. “Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage.”

A satellite image shows the Russian Navy’s guided missile cruiser Moskva at port, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on April 7. Ukrainian forces say they struck and seriously damaged the ship, while Russia said the entire crew was forced to evacuate after a fire without acknowledging an attack. (Maxar Technologies/Handout/Reuters)

Russia, on the other side, claimed the opposite. In contrast to Ukrainian reports, Russian official media reported that an ammunition explosion on a Russian vessel in the Black Sea caused “serious damage.”

According to the Russian defense ministry, the incident on the Moskva missile cruiser occurred after ammunition on board blew up, according to the country’s Interfax news agency.

In a statement, it said: “As the result of a fire on the Moskva missile cruiser, ammunition detonated.” The authorities also informed that the crew had been evacuated and the cause of the fire was being determined.

Ukrainian military hit Russia cruiser Moskva, which is the same warship that has been told by Snake Island defenders to go fuck itself. It was hit with Neptune anti-ship cruise missile that was developed by Kyiv based Luch Design Bureau in 2014-2020 pic.twitter.com/cWrIOZjhbi

— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) April 13, 2022

If confirmed, the sinking of the cruiser would be a major blow to Russia, after the tank carrier Orsk was hit and set on fire in an attack in Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov late last month.

The reported ship attack by Neptune cruise missiles came a day after President Joe Biden called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “a genocide” and approved $800 million US in new military assistance to Kyiv, saying weapons from the West have sustained Ukraine’s fight so far and “we cannot rest now.” The munitions include artillery systems, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters.

Moskva, the aforementioned warship, was built in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv during the Soviet era. According to media reports, it went into service in the early 1980s.

With a crew of 510, it was previously deployed in the Syrian conflict. It provided naval security for the Russian soldiers’ Hmeimim airbase in Syria.

According to sources, the missile cruiser is equipped with 16 P-1000 Vulkan anti-ship missiles as well as anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons.

At least 1,932 civilians have been killed and 2,589 injured in Ukraine since Russia started the war on its neighbor on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be much higher.

More than 4.6 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with over 7 million more internally displaced, said the UN refugee agency.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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