In a 26-second video – the crew’s first public appearance since Moscow acknowledged that the country’s most powerful warship had sunk – Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov appears to be meeting crew members in Sevastopol. About 100 sailors can be seen, although at least 500 were on board when the ship crashed, after Ukrainian officials said they had successfully struck it with at least one Neptune rocket. Moscow, which acknowledged that the ship had been “severely damaged” but blamed ammunition on the ship, claimed that all crew members had been rescued without giving details of where they were after the crash. Ukrainian authorities say one of the crew of the ship on which a Ukrainian soldier said “Go fuck” did not survive. At least one crew member appears to have mourned publicly on Russian networking site Odnoklassniki, according to a Saturday report by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. In a post by a woman who was identified as his widow, Ivan Vakhrushev is said to have “died in the line of duty” on the ship. “He fought to the last for the life of the ship,” the post read. The news agency reports that the woman, Barbara Vakhruseva, confirmed in correspondence that her husband, who was in charge of the ship’s operational security, had died on board. “They found his body,” he told the agency, adding that he had been informed by the military administration. At least 27 other members of the ship’s crew are still missing, he said. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, told the Telegram on Saturday that all members of the ship’s crew would “continue to serve in the Navy,” but did not comment on the fate of the hundreds of sailors who appeared to be missing. . Sevastopol photo-op.
