The Pentagon said the sunken Russian warship Moscow had been hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
A senior US defense official confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian forces had managed to sink the ship after Russia claimed the ship was on fire, while Ukraine said its forces had attacked the ship in the Black Sea, according to The Washington Post.
Russia’s defense ministry has said it will escalate attacks on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in retaliation for attacks on its own assets. Explosions outside Kyiv were reported on Friday, with Russian forces saying in a statement that they had attacked an arms factory in the suburbs.
Russia is also preparing for new attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass. Officials say it may be the bloodiest battle to date, as the battle has moved to more open fields after seven weeks of war.
Russia appears on the verge of capturing Mariupol, a strategically important port city, after weeks of indiscriminate shelling and civilian suffering. Analysts also said Russia was likely to step up its attack in southeastern Ukraine after major setbacks.
Tensions are rising as Ukraine takes on a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and as Sweden, along with Finland, moves closer to joining NATO.
The missile cruiser “Moscow”, named after the Russian capital, was launched during the Cold War, served during the conflicts in Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, and helped conduct research in peacetime with the United States.
Now the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has sunk in these waters near Ukraine while being towed to the port after a fire on board, the Moscow Ministry of Defense said.
This is an inglorious doom for the ship, originally named Glory, or “Glory”.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says the badly damaged Moscow sank in a storm Thursday after being towed after being gutted by a fire. Earlier, it was said that the fire set fire to some of his weapons and forced the crew to evacuate. He denied that there was an attack from Ukraine on the ship, which will usually have about 500 sailors.
Maxim Marchenko, the governor of the Odessa region, said Ukraine hit the ship late Wednesday with two Neptune missiles and caused “serious damage”.
(Images of the press association)
Moscow can carry 16 long-range cruise missiles, and its loss will significantly reduce Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea.
Its sinking is a serious blow to Russia’s prestige seven weeks after a war that is already considered a historic mistake.
The warship was launched as Slava by a shipyard in Nikolaev in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine in July 1979, according to open source intelligence firm Janes.
Put into operation at the end of December 1982, it is 611.5 feet (186 meters) long. It is designed to carry a crew of 476 people with an additional 62 officers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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