On Monday, the first footage of the doomed Russian warship Moskva emerged as she was sinking in the Black Sea last week. While Ukraine claimed it had fired two Neptune anti-ship missiles at the ship, Russia said the vessel was damaged by a fire due to explosion of ammunition.
The Moskva, which was over 180 metres long and displaced over 12,000 tonnes, was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. It is the largest warship to be lost in conflict since the sinking of the Argentine vessel General Belgrano in the Falklands War of 1982. Days after the sinking of the Moskva, there has been no official word from Russia on casualties in the incident, leading to frantic searches by families of personnel on board. The Moskva is believed to have had around 400 to 510 personnel on board at the time she sank. On April 13, Russia had claimed it had evacuated the entire crew.
On Monday, Novaya Gazeta Europe, an independent Russian newspaper, published an account by the mother of a conscript who was believed to be on board the vessel. Novaya Gazeta Europe is the Europe-based edition of the Novaya Gazeta, which is headed by Dmitry Muratov, who won last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Novaya Gazeta Europe said it had confirmed that the conscript had served in the Russian Navy, but could not confirm whether he served on the Moskva. The report said the conscript contacted his mother on April 15, a day after the ship sank.
“My son told me that the cruiser had been hit from land, from the Ukrainian side. A fire wouldn’t just start for no reason. People were killed, some were injured, some went missing. My son called me when he got hold of a phone. Their documents and [personal] phones were left on the cruiser. He called me crying because of what he had seen. It was scary. Clearly, not everyone survived. They tried to put out the fire by themselves, after three Neptune missiles had hit the cruiser,” Novaya Gazeta Europe quoted the conscript's mother as saying.
The conscript told his mother about 40 people were killed and “Several people are considered missing. And a lot of people were injured. Many of them lost their limbs, because there were a lot of explosions: when the missiles hit and when the ammo exploded,” Novaya Gazeta Europe reported.
The publication quoted the mother as recollecting her son's words, “Mummy, I never thought that I would end up in such a bloodbath, I thought we lived in a time of relative peace. I won’t even describe to you in detail what I have seen. It’s that scary.”
Footage strengthens claims of missile strike
The footage of the Moskva, released on Monday, showed the ship listing and billowing smoke. Retired Royal Navy rear admiral Chris Parry told BBC he had “no doubt it's been hit by one or two missiles”.
Parry tweeted “it seems that one/two missiles entered the ship just below the after pair of Vulcan anti-ship missiles. This would have caused massive internal damage and looks to have punctured the two missiles... which would have drained down propellant fuel that further intensified the fire within the ship by spreading horizontally along the decks and through the damaged bulkheads.”
If the claim of the conscript that the Moskva was hit by three missiles is confirmed, it would serve as a damning indictment of the Russian military's preparedness. The Moskva had three types of defences to protect against anti-ship missiles: Two surface-to-air missile systems and six fast-firing close-in weapon systems (CIWS).
Families search
Since Sunday, Russian and independent media outlets have been publishing reports on the status of the crew of the Moskva. The wife of midshipman Ivan Vakhrushev (41) confirmed she had been informed of her husband's death on April 14. Varvara Vakhrusheva claimed 27 crewmen of the Moskva were still missing.
The absence of information about the crew has prompted fears among families of a repeat of the tragedy of the submarine Kursk. The Kursk, a nuclear submarine of the Russian Navy, was crippled by a underwater explosion in August 2020. The entire crew of over 100 perished; their families were kept in the dark for days about their status and attempts to rescue them.
The Moscow Times reported on Monday “there was growing evidence Monday that dozens, perhaps hundreds, were killed or injured in the incident”.
Independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported 37 sailors had been killed and 100 were wounded on the Moskva.
