For the first time, Russia acknowledged that a Ukrainian missile attack sank its flagship warship in the Black Sea, only to later erase the statement and revert to the official version that the guided missile cruiser Moskva sank as a result of an “accident,” reports CNN.
The Moskva was one of the most important ships of the Russian fleet when it sank in April 2022, just seven weeks after Moscow launched its large-scale invasion against Ukraine.
Kiev immediately claimed that the ship was hit by Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles, but Moscow promoted a different narrative. The Russian Ministry of Defense consistently insisted that the Moskva sank after a fire broke out causing the detonation of onboard ammunition. The Russian military stated at the time that the crew was evacuated, although it later admitted that some sailors were missing.
According to the independent Russian publication Mediazona, a military court in Moscow inadvertently corrected the Kremlin’s official version last week.
The court published a statement regarding the sentencing of a Ukrainian navy commander who allegedly ordered attacks on the Moskva and the frigate Admiral Essen. According to the court, he was sentenced to life in prison, in absentia.
The statement was quickly removed from the court’s website, but not before Mediazona downloaded it.
The loss of the Moskva ship was extremely embarrassing for Russia and marked one of Ukraine’s most significant victories so far in the war.
Details, HERE