Ukraine claims to hit the warship, while
Ukraine has not reported any attack. It says the vessel sank after a fire.
According to Russia, the blaze caused the
warship’s ammunition to explode, and the entire crew was later evacuated to
nearby Russian ships in the Black Sea. It didn’t go into any further detail.
After saying initially the warship was afloat,
late Thursday, Russian state media broke the news that the Moskva had been
lost.
“While towed... towards the destined port, the
vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out
after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank,” state news
agency Tass quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying.
Ukrainian military officials said they struck
the Moskva with Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles - a weapon designed after Russia
annexed Crimea in 2014, and the naval threat to Ukraine in the Black Sea grew.
A senior Ukrainian official said as many as
510 crew could have been on board the Moskva.
If the Ukrainian attack is confirmed, the
12,490-tonne Moskva would be the biggest warship to be sunk by enemy action
since World War Two.
