A sailor from the Moskva cruiser died while trying to put out the fire, another 27 crew members disappeared, and the other 396 crew members were evacuated, the Russian Defense Ministry reported today, thus supporting its version that the ship caught fire, while Ukraine claims that it was hit by two of its missiles.
“As a result of the fire on April 13, the Moskva missile cruiser was seriously damaged due to the detonation of ammunition. The crew’s attempts to put out the fire were unsuccessful. During the fight to save the ship, one sailor was killed, 27 other crew members were missing,” the statement said.
The note, which is published by the Sputnik agency, indicates that “the remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruise ship to the ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were in the area and transferred to Sevastopol.”
On April 14, the Russian Defense Ministry reported a fire on the cruiser. The fire was caused by the detonation of ammunition, the causes of which are currently unknown, he says.
Instead, both Ukraine and the US Department of Defense claim that the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea was hit by two Neptune missiles.
During the towing to the port of destination, the ship sank due to a strong storm.
The Lithuanian government said that a Turkish ship had evacuated 54 people from the Russian warship “Moskva “ , which Ukraine announced to have targeted in the Black Sea.
According to the Ministry of Defense, most of the crew members who survived the incident expressed their desire to continue their military service in the Black Sea fleet.
The entity stressed that the Russian authorities support the relatives of the crew members who are considered missing and those of the deceased sailor.
