Russia admitted on Friday (22nd) that one sailor died and 27 others were missing after the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was sunk just over a week ago.
“As a result of the April 13 fire, the missile cruiser Moskva was severely damaged by the ammunition detonation. The crew’s attempts to extinguish the fire were in vain. During the struggle to save the ship, one sailor died and 27 others are missing.” , the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to the state news agency Tass.
The department headed by Sergei Choigu also stated that “the remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the ship to Black Sea Fleet boats located in the area and transferred to Sevastopol”.
The military institution also stressed that it was providing “all necessary support and assistance to the families and loved ones of the deceased and disappeared.”
On Tuesday, the Kremlin declined to comment on reports of possible deaths in the Moskva sinking after independent media outlet Meduza, which publishes its news in LatvianRussian and is considered a “foreign agent” in Russia, said so 37 Russian sailors would have died.
For their part, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday that only 58 members of the ship’s crew survived the sinking.
Ukrainian army sources said last week the Russian ship was hit by two Ukrainian Neptun missiles, causing multiple explosions and a fire on board.
Russia initially claimed that the ship was afloat, that the fire and munitions explosions had been brought under control, and that the crew had been evacuated to other ships in the area.
In addition, it ensured that the main missile armament had not been damaged.
Hours later, however, the Department of Defense acknowledged that the Moskva sank ‘in the middle of a storm while being towed into port’.