Early Friday morning, Russia fired cruise missiles at a Ukrainian arms factory in Kyiv, according to its Defense Ministry.
Other areas of southern Ukraine were also hit overnight by Russian cruise missiles.
Ukrainian commanders say they have sunk the cruiser Moskva, the pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, launching two Neptune anti-ship missiles at it.
Poseidon was designed and built in Ukraine, but it is not known if the plant that was hit on Friday morning is where the rockets are made.
The coat of arms of Russia, the double-headed eagle, appears on the covers of the Moskva cruise missile in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol on September 16, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov / Reuters)
The Russian version is that a fire broke out in Moskva – by mistake – and that the ship sank while being towed to the Russian-controlled port in Sevastopol, Crimea.
So far, there are no videos or satellite images or survivor accounts that support the story of each side.
Either way, the Ukrainian leadership is claiming a major victory.
“It is an extremely important military event and the biggest defeat of the Russian navy since World War II,” wrote on social media Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych.
CLOCKS Ukraine claims rocket attack on key Russian warship hits Moscow:
Ukraine claims rocket attack on key Russian warship hits Moscow
Russia’s flagship in the Black Sea Fleet – Moskva – was destroyed by two Ukrainian missiles, the Ukrainian military says. The damage hits the Russian navy hard, reducing its ability to launch an amphibious attack. 2:21
“Ammunition was fired at this cruiser – which underscores this [it] was loaded with ammunition to continue destroying Ukraine [cities]Said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military district.
The Moskva was not only the largest and most powerful ship in the Black Sea, but also served as Russia’s command headquarters for all its naval operations in the region.
About 500 sailors would normally board the ship and it is not clear how many survived the incident.
“We saw other ships trying to help the cruiser,” Humeniuk said, “but there was a storm at sea and it did not allow them to carry out the rescue operation.”
A man holds stamps showing a Ukrainian military and Russian warship Moskva, at the headquarters of the Ukrainian service in Kyiv on Thursday. (Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters)
A member of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, according to the Gazeta on Friday, said only 58 people had been uprooted from the water, with the ship’s captain among the victims.
Moskva played several roles off the coast of Ukraine, mainly using its extensive anti-aircraft systems to protect Russian troops on land, as well as other ships in the area.
It had also bombed targets near the city of Odessa and would be a key part of any possible invasion of the city.
Without the ship, Russia’s naval capabilities have been severely weakened, experts say.
“What [Russia] “They can no longer so easily bombard the Ukrainian coastline with gunfire, blockade or amphibious assault as they did before,” said Sidarth Kaushal, a naval war expert at the Royal United Services Institute in Britain. -Tank.
If it were a Neptune rocket – or two such rockets as the Ukrainians claim – that launched the Moskva, it would represent a remarkable success for Ukrainian military planners, given how strongly it defended the cruiser against its missile systems and radars. .
A damaged Russian armored personnel carrier appears in the village of Husarivka, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Thursday. (Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters)
Kaushal said open information indicates that the cruiser followed a “predictable” pattern of movement relatively close to the Ukrainian coastline in the days before it sank, meaning Ukraine could use a drone to visually locate it. to target the missiles, even though the weather at that time was bad.
“What is perhaps most interesting is that the Ukrainians were able to monitor Moskva to keep their missiles accurate – which speaks volumes about their intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities,” he told CBC News.
Poseidon, while designed according to an older anti-ship missile of the Soviet era, was brand new and had just been launched.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is chairing a meeting on the country’s oil and gas industry with representatives of Russian energy companies and officials via a video link to a residence outside Moscow on Thursday. (Mikhail Klimentiev / Reuters)
Ukraine would have very few such missiles at its disposal, and given the difficulty of targeting Moscow due to its strong defense, also very few opportunities to launch them.
“It is possible that the rocket they used – or the battery they used – was originally intended for training purposes and was reused for active last-minute combat,” Kaushal said.
Kaushal said another theory is that the Russian ship may have been hit by a mine, but again, there is very little independent evidence to continue.
For the Ukrainian army, there could hardly have been a greater symbolic target.
In the early days of the war, Moscow ignited a collective Ukrainian consciousness when its captain confronted a group of Ukrainian soldiers on a tiny island off Odessa and ordered them to surrender.
The soldiers’ response: “Russian warship go alone” became a slogan imprinted on Ukrainian buildings, in military uniforms and just this week, also on a Ukrainian postage stamp.
The side of a building in Lviv, Ukraine, is painted with a rude slogan aimed at a Russian warship. (Chris Brown / CBC)
Russia disputes this version of events and claims that the soldiers just surrendered.
But while Russian military operations in southern Ukraine may suffer without the ship, they are unlikely to affect Russia’s broader warfare or strategy, said Maksym Palamarchuk, an analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Ukraine.
“It will be only one [small] change in their grand strategy, “he told CBC News in an interview in Kyiv.
Russian forces are currently concentrated in eastern Donbass, preparing for a major new offensive to occupy territory in the region.
Palamarhuk said Russian forces should make up for the loss of antibiotic coverage in the area around Kherson, but did not expect this to significantly affect the timing of the attack.
President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 25, calling it a “special military operation” and banning any reference to the conflict as a “war.”
In the hours following the news on Thursday that the ship had been severely damaged, Russian state television television broadcasts appeared to contradict how to report the loss.
Some experts on the talk show 60 Minutes seemed to tacitly reject the idea that Russian incompetence could have led to disaster and instead blamed Ukraine.
“The warship Moskva is the ultimate cause of war,” said Russian director Vladimir Borto, a member of the team.
Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has already turned into what could easily be called World War III, said presenter Olga Skabeeva, who asked if Russia should now fully mobilize its society for military effort, including the recruitment of more soldiers.
Palamarhuk, a Ukrainian naval analyst, said he believed Ukraine posed little risk of launching bold attacks, such as the one in Moscow, as Russia’s ability to escalate the war was limited.
“If we look at the number of troops already involved, it is difficult to escalate further,” he said.
“The rhetoric is that they give the impression that they are strong, that they are willing to fight more. But it is difficult to force people who do not want to fight to fight. [Whereas] “The Ukrainians have no choice.”
title: “Whatever Sank Russia S Flagship In The Black Sea Ukraine Is Celebrating The Victory " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Travis Reid”
Early Friday morning, Russia fired cruise missiles at a Ukrainian arms factory in Kyiv, according to its Defense Ministry.
Other areas of southern Ukraine were also hit overnight by Russian cruise missiles.
Ukrainian commanders say they have sunk the cruiser Moskva, the pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, launching two Neptune anti-ship missiles at it.
Poseidon was designed and built in Ukraine, but it is not known if the plant that was hit on Friday morning is where the rockets are made.
The coat of arms of Russia, the double-headed eagle, appears on the covers of the Moskva cruise missile in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol on September 16, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov / Reuters)
The Russian version is that a fire broke out in Moskva – by mistake – and that the ship sank while being towed to the Russian-controlled port in Sevastopol, Crimea.
So far, there are no videos or satellite images or survivor accounts that support the story of each side.
Either way, the Ukrainian leadership is claiming a major victory.
“It is an extremely important military event and the biggest defeat of the Russian navy since World War II,” wrote on social media Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych.
CLOCKS Ukraine claims rocket attack on key Russian warship hits Moscow:
Ukraine claims rocket attack on key Russian warship hits Moscow
Russia’s flagship in the Black Sea Fleet – Moskva – was destroyed by two Ukrainian missiles, the Ukrainian military says. The damage hits the Russian navy hard, reducing its ability to launch an amphibious attack. 2:21
“Ammunition was fired at this cruiser – which underscores this [it] was loaded with ammunition to continue destroying Ukraine [cities]Said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military district.
The Moskva was not only the largest and most powerful ship in the Black Sea, but also served as Russia’s command headquarters for all its naval operations in the region.
About 500 sailors would normally board the ship and it is not clear how many survived the incident.
“We saw other ships trying to help the cruiser,” Humeniuk said, “but there was a storm at sea and it did not allow them to carry out the rescue operation.”
A man holds stamps showing a Ukrainian military and Russian warship Moskva, at the headquarters of the Ukrainian service in Kyiv on Thursday. (Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters)
A member of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, according to the Gazeta on Friday, said only 58 people had been uprooted from the water, with the ship’s captain among the victims.
Moskva played several roles off the coast of Ukraine, mainly using its extensive anti-aircraft systems to protect Russian troops on land, as well as other ships in the area.
It had also bombed targets near the city of Odessa and would be a key part of any possible invasion of the city.
Without the ship, Russia’s naval capabilities have been severely weakened, experts say.
“What [Russia] “They can no longer so easily bombard the Ukrainian coastline with gunfire, blockade or amphibious assault as they did before,” said Sidarth Kaushal, a naval war expert at the Royal United Services Institute in Britain. -Tank.
If it were a Neptune rocket – or two such rockets as the Ukrainians claim – that launched the Moskva, it would represent a remarkable success for Ukrainian military planners, given how strongly it defended the cruiser against its missile systems and radars. .
A damaged Russian armored personnel carrier appears in the village of Husarivka, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Thursday. (Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters)
Kaushal said open information indicates that the cruiser followed a “predictable” pattern of movement relatively close to the Ukrainian coastline in the days before it sank, meaning Ukraine could use a drone to visually locate it. to target the missiles, even though the weather at that time was bad.
“What is perhaps most interesting is that the Ukrainians were able to monitor Moskva to keep their missiles accurate – which speaks volumes about their intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities,” he told CBC News.
Poseidon, while designed according to an older anti-ship missile of the Soviet era, was brand new and had just been launched.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is chairing a meeting on the country’s oil and gas industry with representatives of Russian energy companies and officials via a video link to a residence outside Moscow on Thursday. (Mikhail Klimentiev / Reuters)
Ukraine would have very few such missiles at its disposal, and given the difficulty of targeting Moscow due to its strong defense, also very few opportunities to launch them.
“It is possible that the rocket they used – or the battery they used – was originally intended for training purposes and was reused for active last-minute combat,” Kaushal said.
Kaushal said another theory is that the Russian ship may have been hit by a mine, but again, there is very little independent evidence to continue.
For the Ukrainian army, there could hardly have been a greater symbolic target.
In the early days of the war, Moscow ignited a collective Ukrainian consciousness when its captain confronted a group of Ukrainian soldiers on a tiny island off Odessa and ordered them to surrender.
The soldiers’ response: “Russian warship go alone” became a slogan imprinted on Ukrainian buildings, in military uniforms and just this week, also on a Ukrainian postage stamp.
The side of a building in Lviv, Ukraine, is painted with a rude slogan aimed at a Russian warship. (Chris Brown / CBC)
Russia disputes this version of events and claims that the soldiers just surrendered.
But while Russian military operations in southern Ukraine may suffer without the ship, they are unlikely to affect Russia’s broader warfare or strategy, said Maksym Palamarchuk, an analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Ukraine.
“It will be only one [small] change in their grand strategy, “he told CBC News in an interview in Kyiv.
Russian forces are currently concentrated in eastern Donbass, preparing for a major new offensive to occupy territory in the region.
Palamarhuk said Russian forces should make up for the loss of antibiotic coverage in the area around Kherson, but did not expect this to significantly affect the timing of the attack.
President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 25, calling it a “special military operation” and banning any reference to the conflict as a “war.”
In the hours following the news on Thursday that the ship had been severely damaged, Russian state television television broadcasts appeared to contradict how to report the loss.
Some experts on the talk show 60 Minutes seemed to tacitly reject the idea that Russian incompetence could have led to disaster and instead blamed Ukraine.
“The warship Moskva is the ultimate cause of war,” said Russian director Vladimir Borto, a member of the team.
Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has already turned into what could easily be called World War III, said presenter Olga Skabeeva, who asked if Russia should now fully mobilize its society for military effort, including the recruitment of more soldiers.
Palamarhuk, a Ukrainian naval analyst, said he believed Ukraine posed little risk of launching bold attacks, such as the one in Moscow, as Russia’s ability to escalate the war was limited.
“If we look at the number of troops already involved, it is difficult to escalate further,” he said.
“The rhetoric is that they give the impression that they are strong, that they are willing to fight more. But it is difficult to force people who do not want to fight to fight. [Whereas] “The Ukrainians have no choice.”
