Russia says ammunition blast damages flagship of Black Sea fleet – Interfax
By David Ljunggren
(Reuters) -The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, was badly broken when ammunition on board blew up, Interfax information company quoted the defence ministry as saying on Thursday.
The blast is yet one more navy setback for Russia, which has suffered a collection of blows since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Moscow calls a “particular navy operation” to “denazify” the nation.
Interfax stated all of the crew had been evacuated. It cited the ministry as blaming the blast on a fireplace and stated the trigger was being investigated.
A Ukrainian official earlier stated the Moskva had been hit by two anti-ship missiles however didn’t give any proof. The 12,500 tonne ship normally has a crew of round 500.
“As the results of a fireplace on the Moskva missile cruiser, ammunition detonated. The ship was significantly broken,” the Russian Protection Ministry stated in a press release. “The crew was fully evacuated.”
Russian information businesses stated the Moskva, commissioned in 1983, was armed with 16 anti-ship “Vulkan” cruise missiles with a spread of not less than 700 km (440 miles). Interfax didn’t give extra particulars of the incident.
In April 2021, the company quoted a retired Russian admiral as saying “that is probably the most critical ship within the Black Sea”.
Kyiv says the Moskva featured in one of many landmark early exchanges of the warfare, when Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island, a small outcrop within the Black Sea, informed the ship to “go fuck your self” after it demanded they give up.
Though Ukrainian officers initially stated all 13 guards had died within the subsequent Russian assault, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later stated a few of them survived.
Maksym Marchenko, governor of the area across the Black Sea port of Odesa, earlier stated the Moskva had been hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles, however didn’t present proof.
“It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva right now went precisely the place the border guards on Snake Island informed it to go,” he stated in an internet publish. Ukraine’s defence ministry didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Final month Ukraine stated it had destroyed a big Russian touchdown help ship, the Orsk, on the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast of the Black Sea. Moscow has not commented on what had occurred to the ship.
(Extra reporting by Ron Popeski; Modifying by Stephen Coates)
