A Russian warship that gained notoriety when Ukrainian troops under attack told it to “go f—k yourself” has sunk after sustaining heavy damage from an explosion.
Ukraine claimed it struck the 610-foot missile cruiser Moskva — the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet — with two Neptune missiles, but Moscow blamed the explosion on a fire that detonated ammunition on the ship.
The ship sank while being towed to port during a heavy storm, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
15.1n.Russian Warship jt.xml The Ministry said the entire crew of the Moskva, which normally carries about 500 sailors, had previously evacuated due to the damage.
It did not acknowledge any attack, which would also deal a major blow to Russian prestige almost two months into a war that is already widely regarded as a massive blunder.
Earlier in the conflict, the Moskva made international headlines when it called on Ukrainian border guards defending Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender — to which one memorably radioed the defiant message, “Russian warship, go f— yourself!”
“It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!” Odessa Gov. Maksym Marchenko said, according to the BBC.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the ship “burns strongly. Right now. And with this stormy sea, it is unknown whether they will be able to receive help.”
Vladimir Putin (left) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi leave the guided missile cruiser Moskva at the Black Sea port of Sochi, August 12, 2014. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo 
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the cruiser Moskva in port at Sevastopol in Crimea on April 7, 2022. Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via APIn a later Tweet, Arestovych claimed Ukraine had sunk the 12,500-ton vessel but provided no proof, and the BBC has not been able to verify his claim.
The Moskva is a “symbol of Russian naval power in the Black Sea,” Michael Petersen of the Russia Maritime Studies Institute told the BBC.
“The Moskva has been a thorn in the side of the Ukrainians since the beginning of this conflict. To see it damaged so badly … I think is going to be a real morale boost to the Ukrainians,” he added.
Ukraine claimed it struck the 610-foot missile cruiser Moskva — the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet — with two Neptune missiles. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
The Russian cruiser Moskva during Black Sea naval exercises outside the Crimean port of Sevastopol. HANDOUT/Russian Defence Ministry/AFP via Getty ImagesOriginally built in Ukraine during the Soviet era, the Moskva — which reportedly carries Vulkan anti-ship missiles and an array of anti-submarine weapons — entered service in the early 1980s, according to Russian media.
It was previously deployed by Moscow in the Syria conflict, where it supplied Russian forces with naval protection.
“To be able to strike so decisively Russia’s Black Sea flagship is an enormous boost because it also reduces Russia’s future abilities to conduct offensive naval operations, quite seriously,” Samir Puri of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC.
Moscow has denied the statement that the cruiser was hit and says the explosion and a fire detonated ammunition on the ship. Black Sea FleetNews of the ship’s damage overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where they have been battling the Ukrainians in some of the heaviest fighting of the war — at a horrific cost to civilians.
Ukraine said last month it had destroyed a large Russian landing support ship, the Orsk, on the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast of the Black Sea. Moscow has not commented on what happened to the ship.
With Post wires
