In his evening video address to the nation, President Vladimir Zelensky hinted at the sinking, telling Ukrainians they should be proud to have survived 50 days of attack when the Russians “gave us a maximum of five”.
Enumerating the many ways in which Ukraine has defended itself against the invasion, he noted “those who have shown that Russian warships can set sail, even if they are at the bottom” at sea. It was his only mention of the rocket cruiser.
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, forced the entire crew to evacuate. It was later reported that the fire had been contained.
Moscow 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 Moscow’s prestige in a war that is already considered a historic mistake. Entering its eighth week, the invasion came amid 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 ship 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.
The news of the flagship overshadowed Russian claims of progress in the southern port city of Mariupol, where Moscow forces 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.
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.
Mariupol is the scene of some of the worst sufferings of the war. Dwindling Ukrainian defenders oppose a siege that has trapped more than 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating. David Beasley, executive director of the UN World Food Program, said in an interview with the AP on Thursday that people were “starving to death” in the besieged city.
The mayor of Mariupol said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could exceed 20,000 after weeks of attacks and deprivation left bodies “on carpets in the streets”.
The capture of Mariupol is crucial for Russia because it will allow its forces in the south, which emerged through the annexed Crimean peninsula, to fully connect with troops in the Donbass region, Ukraine’s eastern industrial center and the goal of the upcoming offensive.
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.
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.
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.
Launched as Glory in 1979, the cruiser served during the Cold War and during the conflicts in Georgia and Syria and helped conduct research in peacetime with the United States. He carried nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
In 1989, Slava was scheduled to host a meeting near Malta between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George W. Bush, but strong winds postponed negotiations on the mooring cruiser Maxim Gorky.
On Thursday, other Russian ships, which were also in the northern Black Sea, moved 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 AP that removing him would mean “we can only sigh with relief”.
Although the United States has failed to confirm Ukraine’s allegations of a strike on the warship, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan 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.
Russia invaded on February 24 and potentially lost thousands of fighters. The conflict killed huge numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee.
It has also further raised prices in grocery stores and petrol stations, while dragging on 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 about 11 kilometers (7 miles) across the border and firing on apartment buildings in the village of Klimovo in Russia’s Bryansk region. 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.
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.
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Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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