The sinking of the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship was the greatest naval loss in 40 years – and a great shame for Russia.
The images show the list of Moscow on one side, with black holes from possible traces of missile piercing and significant scars at and just above the waterline from the port (left) side in the middle of the ship.
A large stream of black smoke can be seen rising, partially obscuring the front of the struck ship.
Analysts who spoke to CNN confirmed that the warship in the images resembles the Moscow, a destroyer with guided missiles of the Glory class and a flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine and Russia have provided conflicting accounts of what happened during Thursday’s Black Sea incident.
Moscow has denied the Ukrainian version of events – that “Moscow” sank after being hit by Ukrainian missiles – but admitted that the ship fell. Russia insisted the fire was the cause of the sinking, but the United States on Friday confirmed Ukraine’s information, with a senior defense official saying the United States believed two Ukrainian Neptune missiles had hit a Russian warship.
Carl Schuster, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command Joint Intelligence Center, told CNN on Monday that he said the missiles had penetrated the ship’s bridge and detonated.
“Assuming the photo was not forged in any way or bought with photos, it looks like the rocket (s) was hit forward, which is not unexpected,” he said. “Anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) tend to go to the center of radar return, which is usually the front of the superstructure.”
HI Sutton, an independent analyst and defense author, told CNN that the damage shown in the photos “does not rule out missile strike (s) and this remains the probable cause.”
“Possible traces of breaches in the side of the hull can be seen below, where the fire is. But they will need more careful examination to confirm whether they were caused by missiles or simply fire damage,” he said.
Moscow was armed with a range of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, as well as torpedoes, naval guns and missile defense systems, meaning there would be large quantities of explosives on board.
The Russian military has not released information about the victims aboard the Moscow.
Russia’s Defense Ministry released a video Saturday showing officers and sailors on a sunken warship standing two rows deep. The number of sailors in the formation was unclear. It was not clear how many crew members were on board or how many survived.
Sutton says the images show all the life rafts have been deployed, “All the stern life raft containers have been dumped, although one remains on the back deck. This suggests that the crew has already left the ship at this time, “he said.
A large Russian lifeboat is seen flooding the warship with water from the other side.
The Kremlin said on Monday that it had seen the photos of Moscow, but could not verify them. “Yes, we did see the footage, but we can’t say how authentic and true it is,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
A senior U.S. defense official, who said he also saw the photos and video of the burning ship, told CNN on Monday that the United States “cannot verify these images on its own.”
“But the images themselves correspond to what we considered the damage done to the ship,” the official said.
Photographers of the images and video are unknown, but they were taken by a vessel near the hit warship. In the short video, shot from the same point of view, the voice of an invisible man is heard shouting in Russian: “M ** k (incomprehensible) what did he do!”
“Moscow” was one of Russia’s most visible assets in the war in Ukraine, and its loss could affect the morale of Russian troops.
Significantly, the Russian government did not recognize the victims of the sinking, in stark contrast to the public debate itself over the Kursk submarine crash that killed 118 sailors in 2000.
Analysts say the loss of the warship would hit the Russian Navy hard, as well as national pride, comparable to the loss of the US Navy during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.
“Only the loss of a ballistic missile submarine or the Kutsnetsov (the only Russian aircraft carrier) would deal a more serious blow to Russia’s morale and the navy’s reputation with the Russian public,” Schuster said.
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