Russian Missile Cruiser Moskva On Fire

Odessa's Regional Governor says the ship was seriously damaged in the attack

UPDATE (0632PST 15 APR 2022): On April 14, Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that the Moskva sank as she was being towed to port. Also on April 14, a senior U.S. official confirmed to the Washington Post that the sinking was the result of a Ukrainian attack.

The Moskva was valued at approximately $750 million, and she’s the first flagship lost by Russia since 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War when gunfire sunk the battleship Oslyabya during the Battle of Tsushima.

UPDATE (1628PST): Russian State Media (RIA Novosti) blames it on a fire that detonated some ammo.

UPDATE (1614PST): @OsintDefender posted on Twitter:

“Evidence seems to be mounting that some kind of Russian Ship is indeed taking water and in distress off the Coast of Odessa, as Distress Signals appear to have been Intercepted from the Vessel.”

Colonel Maksym Marchenko, former commander of the 28th Mechanized Brigade and the Aidar Battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, and governor of the Odessa Oblast since March 1, 2022, announced on his Telegram channel that the Russian Missile Cruiser Moskva was hit by Neptune missiles and suffered serious damage.

A Ukrainian news site said the Moskva was on fire.

An R-360 Neptune anti-ship missile could destroy a cruiser, destroyer, frigate, or transport ship at a range of up to 280km. It weighs 870kg, of which 150kg is the warhead.

The Moskva is a 612 ft, 12,500 ton vessel with 500 people onboard. The challenge to Ukraine would be in finding her; a difficult task perhaps made simpler because GURMO (the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense) hacked the communications servers of the Black Sea Fleet sometime in February.

The GURMO Cyber team shared all of the captured files across Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, and a small number were shared with this author for a post on February 26.

A few of the files are posted below, and paid subscribers can download the complete collection at the end of this article.

---