Explained | Did Ukraine sink Moskva, Russia’s Black Sea fleet flagship?

Ukrainian officials said their forces struck the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet with missiles. Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack. 

The story so far: Russia’s guided-missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the country’s Black Sea fleet, sank on April 14. The ship, which would normally have about 500 sailors aboard, was located in the Black Sea somewhere off the Ukrainian port of Odesa at the time of the explosion. 

Conflicting reports emerged about the incident. Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged that Moskva sunk in stormy seas following a major fire aboard the ship that caused an explosion. Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed that the fire broke out after its anti-ship missiles Neptune hit the vessel.  

The Moskva, named after the Russian capital, entered service with the Soviet navy in the 1980s. It was called “Slava” or “Glory” at the time of its commissioning. 

Along with Marshal Ustinov and the Varyag, which serve with Russia’s Northern and Pacific fleets, Slava was designed to counter U.S. aircraft carrier groups and to provide air defence to Soviet vessels operating in distant oceans. They were nicknamed “carrier killers”.

It could carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. It was designed to carry a crew of 476 with an additional 62 officers. The Slava served as the flagship of the Soviet fleet in the Black Sea. It carried both surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, deck guns, torpedoes and mortars. It also had a helicopter deck. It carried nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

The ship underwent repairs from 1990 to 1999. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the warship was renamed Moskva (Moscow) in 1995.

The Moskva took part in a blockade of the Ukrainian navy in March 2014 as part of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In 2015, it was part of a military operation in Syria, providing air defence for Russian forces.