“MOSKVA”: Why loss of this cruiser is an operational and symbolic hard blow for Russia

The Russian admiral vessel sank Thursday, April 14th. kyiv assures having struck the building with two Ukrainian manufacturing missiles, while Moscow deplores an explosion of ammunition, caused by a fire on board. This loss is considered important, even if it does not upset the balance of forces.

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Russia lost, Thursday, April 14, the most important vessel of its Black Sea fleet, deployed as part of the offensive launched against Ukraine since the 24th of February: the Moskva cruiser (“Moscow”, in Russian) . This key building for its operations because it can coordinate several buildings at a time, sank, recognized the Russian Ministry of Defense, in the evening of Thursday. Russia ensures that the loss of its admiral vessel is the result of “detonation” of a stock of ammunition, caused by a “fire”. Thursday morning, Moscow had recognized that the building was “badly damaged”. The Ukrainian part assures for its part have hit the ship with missiles.
Whatever the exact circumstances in which the Moskva has fallen, his loss appears as a very hard blow for Moscow, operational as much as symbolic. If the Pentagon refused to accredit one or the other version, his spokesman, John Kirby, noted Thursday that the disappearance of the Moskva “will have consequences” on the ability of the Russians to dominate the Black Sea. The New York Times, citing American military sources, indicated on its side that the other Russian military ships deployed on the zone had moved away from the Ukrainian coasts during the day.

Euphorie in kyiv

Moscow gave no indication of any victims, while the MOSKVA had more than 500 men on board. The entire crew would have been evacuated, according to the Ministry of Defense, which was still soon before the fire on board was “circumscribed” and that the cruiser “kept his buoyancy”. It’s ultimately “during towing to the port”, “in stormy seafarers”, that the ship has sunk.

The Moskva was what is called a cruiser. That is, a very imposing type of ship (more than 13,000 tonnes), along 186 meters, capable of coordinating operations and ordering several other vessels at the same time. Hence his name “Amiral Ship”. Only Russia, the United States, China, Japan and South Korea currently have this type of ship. France, like other Western marines, does not have equivalent building.

put into service of the time of the Soviet Union, in 1983, built in the Ukrainian city of Mykolav, one of the main targets of the Russian offensive, “The Moskva was a heavily armed building, older, but d A great symbolic value “, summarizes Hugo Decis, researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), based in London, and specialist in naval issues. The ship was even deemed to hold on board, in a chapel, a precious Christian relic, a piece of the cross on which Christ would have been crucified. He had also welcomed Vladimir Putin and several foreign leaders.

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/Media reports.