A senior US defense official confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian forces had sunk the ship after Russia claimed the ship had caught fire, while Ukraine said its forces had attacked the ship in the Black Sea, the Washington Post reported. The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that it will escalate the attacks in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, in retaliation for attacks on its own assets. Explosions were reported Friday outside Kyiv – Russian forces said in a statement that they had attacked a weapons factory in a suburb. Russia is also preparing for new attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass. Officials say it could be the bloodiest battle to date, as the battle moves into more open fields after seven weeks of war. Russia seems to be on the verge of occupying Mariupol, a strategically important port city, after weeks of indiscriminate bombing and civilian suffering. Analysts also said Russia was likely to step up its attack on southeastern Ukraine after major setbacks. Tensions are rising as Ukraine recaptures a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and as Sweden, along with Finland, approaches eventual NATO membership. Named in honor of the Russian capital, the Moskva missile cruiser was launched during the Cold War, operated during the conflict in Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, and assisted in conducting scientific research in peacetime with the United States. Now the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has sunk in these waters off Ukraine while being towed to the port after a fire on the ship, said the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. It was an unfortunate disaster for the ship that was originally christened Slavic, or “glory”. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the severely damaged Moskva sank in a storm on Thursday under tow, after being engulfed by fire. She previously said the fire had set off some of her weapons and forced the crew to evacuate. He denied that there was an attack by Ukraine on the ship, which would normally carry about 500 sailors. Maksym Marchenko, governor of the Odessa region, said Ukraine had hit the ship late Wednesday with two Neptune missiles, causing “serious damage”. (Press Association Pictures) Moskva could carry 16 long-range cruise missiles, and its loss would significantly reduce Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea. Its sinking represents a major blow to Russian prestige seven weeks after a war that is already widely regarded as a historic blunder. The warship was launched as a Slava from a shipyard in Mykolaiv in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine in July 1979, according to the open source intelligence company Janes. It was built at the end of December 1982 and had a length of 611.5 feet (186 meters). It was designed to carry a crew of 476 people with an additional 62 officers. The Associated Press contributed to this report The Independent has a proud campaign history for the rights of the most vulnerable and we first launched our “Welcome Refugees” campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and start this report on In the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we call on the government to move faster and faster to secure aid. To learn more about our Refugee Campaign, click here. To sign the application click here. If you would like to donate, click here for our GoFundMe page.
