The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, a missile cruiser that became a powerful target of Ukrainian disobedience in the early days of the war, sank on Thursday after being severely damaged in the latest failure to invade Moscow.
Ukrainian authorities said their forces hit the ship with missiles while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moscow, but no attack. US and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the fire.
The loss of the warship, named after the Russian capital, is a devastating symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after withdrawing from much of the north, including the capital.
Read more: Russia holds fire on Moscow warship as Ukraine claims missile strike
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the ship sank in a storm while being towed to port. Earlier, Russia said the flames of the ship, which usually has 500 sailors on board, forced the entire crew to evacuate. It is later said that the fire has been contained and that the ship will be towed to the port with intact missile launchers.
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The ship had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles, and its removal reduces Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea. It is also a blow to Russia’s prestige in a war that is already considered a historic mistake. Entering its eighth week, Russia’s invasion came to a halt due to resistance from Ukrainian militants backed by weapons and other aid sent by Western nations.
During the first days of the war, Moscow was reportedly the warship that called on Ukrainian troops stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender in opposition. In a widespread recording, a soldier replied: “Russian warship, go (curse) alone.”
The Associated Press could not independently investigate the incident, but Ukraine and its supporters see it as an iconic moment of disobedience. The country recently unveiled a postage stamp in honor of this.
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The news of the flagship’s damage overshadowed Russia’s claims of progress in the southern port city of Mariupol, where they have been fighting Ukrainians since the first days of the invasion of some of the war’s worst battles – at a terrifying cost to civilians.
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A spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said on Wednesday that 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered to a metal factory in the city. But Vadim Denisenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, dismissed the allegation, telling Current Time television that “the battle for the seaport continues today.”
It was not clear how many forces were still defending Mariupol.
Russian state television broadcast footage she said was from Mariupol, showing dozens of men in camouflage walking with their arms raised and carrying others on stretchers. A man was holding a white flag.
Read more: That’s why Russia is after Mariupol – and why it may not be the change in the game it once was
Mariupol is the scene of some of the worst sufferings of the war. Dwindling Ukrainian defenders oppose a Russian siege that has trapped more than 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.
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The mayor said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians had died in the siege and that the death toll could exceed 20,000. Weeks of attacks and deprivation have left bodies “on the streets”, he said.
The capture of Mariupol is critical for Russia because it would allow its forces in the south, which emerged through the annexed Crimean peninsula, to fully connect with troops in the eastern Donbass region, Ukraine’s industrial center and the target of the upcoming offensive.
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The Russian military continues to move helicopters and other equipment together for similar efforts, according to a senior U.S. defense official, and is likely to add more ground combat units “in the coming days.” But it is still unclear when Russia may launch a major offensive in Donbass.
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Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukraine in Donbass since 2014, the same year that Russia took over Crimea. Russia has recognized the independence of the rebel regions in Donbass.
The loss of Moscow could slow down any new large-scale offensive.
Maxim Marchenko, the governor of the Odessa region, across the Black Sea northwest of Sevastopol, said the Ukrainians hit the ship with two Neptune missiles and caused “serious damage.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the ammunition on board was detonated as a result of the fire, without saying what caused the fire. It says the “main missile weapons” are not damaged. In addition to cruise missiles, the warship had anti-aircraft missiles and other guns.
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Neptune is an anti-ship rocket recently developed by Ukraine and based on an earlier Soviet design. The missiles are mounted on trucks near the coast, and according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missiles can hit targets up to 280 kilometers (175 miles) away. That would put Moscow in range, depending on where it was when the fire broke out.
Read more: Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter attack in cross-border attack
Other Russian ships, which were also in the northern Black Sea, were moving further south after Moscow caught fire, a senior U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity to discuss domestic military assessments.
Before the sinking of Moscow, Yuri Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told the Associated Press that removing it would mean “we can only sigh with relief, because it means fewer missiles will reach Ukrainian cities.” .
The United States has failed to confirm Ukraine’s allegations of a strike on the warship, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. However, he called it a “big blow to Russia”.
“They had to choose between two stories: one was that it was just incompetence, and the other was that they were attacked, and neither of them was a very good result for them,” Sullivan told the Washington Economic Club.
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Russia invaded on February 24 and potentially lost thousands of fighters. The conflict has killed huge numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions of others to flee.
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In addition, it further raises prices in grocery stores and gas stations, while dragging the global economy. The head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that the war had helped the organization lower economic forecasts for 143 countries.
Also Thursday, Russian authorities accused Ukraine of sending two low-flying military helicopters across the border and firing on apartment buildings in the village of Klimovo in Russia’s Bryansk region, about 11km (7 miles) from the border. Russia’s Investigative Committee said seven people, including a small child, were injured.
Russia’s State Security Service said earlier that Ukrainian forces had fired mortars at a border post in Bryansk as refugees crossed, forcing them to flee.
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Reports cannot be verified independently. Earlier this month, Ukrainian security officials denied that Kyiv was behind an air strike on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, about 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the border.
Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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