The Navy has revealed new details about the sinking of the cruiser “Moskva”

The Ukrainian operation against the Russian flagship was the first case in history when a missile cruiser was destroyed during a war.

Ukraine became the first country in the world to destroy a missile cruiser during a war, defeating the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the “Moskva”. This was told to the Crimea.Realities project by the Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa.

According to Neizhpapa, the Russian cruiser “Moskva” was of important strategic importance for the Russian military, as it carried out tasks to isolate the combat area and controlled the movement of other ships heading from Zmiiniyi Island to Cape Tarkhankut. It also prevented NATO ships from entering the area and created obstacles to possible exits of Ukrainian ships from this zone.

The commander emphasized that the success of the operation against the cruiser was an important signal for the Russian fleet, as Ukrainian forces managed to prevent the enemy from approaching Odesa.

“We understood that if we manage to do this, the enemy will understand that he will no longer be able to approach our shores at such a distance, and we will be able to drive him away from Odesa,” he added.

The defeat of the “Moskva” became an unlikely scenario, since only two Neptune missiles were not enough to destroy it. However, a combination of several factors — precise hits on critical points of the ship, detonation of ammunition and adverse weather conditions — led to its sinking.

“I think it was a coincidence. God was on our side. Of course, two missiles to sink the cruiser were very unlikely. It was the afternoon hour, the admiral’s hour, as they say in the navy,” Neizhpapa explained.

The first strike hit the galley, which caused serious damage to the ship, since the engine room was located under this room, and the main command post was located in the adjacent compartment.

The second strike caused the destruction of the aft part of the ship, and due to a three-point storm, the crew was unable to effectively fight for the ship’s survivability.

Neizhpapa also noted that “all the conflicts that Russia carried out from the sea began with this cruiser,” recalling the blockades in Georgia and other armed operations in which the Moskva was the control center.

As a reminder, on April 13, 2022, Ukrainian “Neptune” missiles hit the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet worth $ 750 million. A day later, on April 14, the “Moskva” sank. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the death of five sailors on board, but according to the then Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Alexei Danilov, at that time there were 510 people on the cruiser, of whom only 58 were saved.

Recently, the Ukrainian Navy denied the NYT’s information that Ukraine allegedly received the coordinates of the Russian cruiser “Moskva” from the United States. Instead, the operation to destroy the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was fully planned and carried out exclusively by the Navy.