Moscow (Times Of Ocean)- A Russian navy flagship on the Black Sea has suffered “serious damage” as the result of an ammunition explosion, state media reported on Thursday.
“A fire caused ammunition to detonate on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was severely damaged,” the Russian defense ministry reported, adding that the cause of the fire had been determined, and that the crew had been evacuated.
The governor of Odessa announced earlier that missiles had been fired at the Moskva.
“The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea severely damaged the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!” wrote Governor Maksym Marchenko on Telegram.
Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said that “a surprise happened” with the Moskva.
“It burns strongly. Right now. And with this stormy sea, it is unknown whether they will be able to receive help,” he said in a YouTube broadcast.
“We don’t understand what happened.”
It was originally built in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv during the Soviet era and entered service in the early 1980s, according to Russian media.
This vessel served as naval protection for the Russian forces’ Hmeimim airbase during the Syria conflict, where it had a crew of 510.
According to reports, the missile cruiser is armed with 16 P-1000 Vulkan anti-ship missiles, as well as mine-torpedoes and anti-submarine weapons.
During the war, the Moskva achieved fame when it called on Ukrainian border troops defending Snake Island to surrender, only to be defiantly refused.
As a result of these fake reports, the troops in question were initially believed to have been killed, but they were actually captured.
According to the Ukrainian Parliament, they were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia in late March.
As Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman reported, the soldiers were taken to an unknown location and kept in freezing conditions, suffering frostbite.