Russia Says Warship ‘Seriously Damaged’ by Explosion

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a brief statement on Wednesday night that the entire crew of the missile cruiser ‘Moskva’ was evacuated after an ammunition explosion caused by a fire, multiple Russian news agencies reported, including RIA, TASS and Interfax.

The cruiser suffered “serious damage,” the Russian military reportedly said, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

The Defense Ministry, however, has yet to confirm the incident on its official website, or share further details.

The Atlant-class missile cruiser, launched in 1979, is armed with 16 anti-ship missiles and many more air defense missiles, torpedoes and guns. It is part of the Black Sea Fleet, and has been engaged in operations off the coast of Ukraine since February.

Ukrainian officials on Wednesday evening claimed that a battery of their Neptune anti-ship missiles hidden in Odessa had successfully struck the Moskva twice, setting the cruiser ablaze. Among those making the claim were Maksim Marchenko, head of the military administration in Odessa, and Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Interior Ministry in Kiev.

Ukraine also claimed to have destroyed Vasily Bykov, another ship involved in the taking of Snake Island. Ukrainian media announced on March 7 that a volley of artillery rockets hit and sank the Bykov, after two speedboats baited into a trap – only for the ship to show up in Sevastopol on March 16, unharmed.

Moscow attacked its neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Russia has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.