Russian warship sinks after 'missile attack' but Kremlin claims it sank in 'stormy seas'

14 April 2022, 21:14 | Updated: 15 April 2022, 11:33

Russian warship Moskva has sunk following what Ukraine says was a missile strike, but the Kremlin has said the flagship cruiser sank in the Black Sea in 'stormy seas' after a fire on board.

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet sunk whilst being towed to port after "stormy seas" and bad weather caused complications, Moscow claimed.

Ukraine says that its forces struck the Moskva warship with missiles overnight, but Russia said it was badly damaged by an onboard fire that forced a mass evacuation.

Russia's state news agency TASS quoted the defence ministry as saying: "While being towed ... towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank."

There has been varied reports from Moscow, Kyiv and the Pentagon on the fate of the 510-crew ship throughout Thursday.

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Russian ship Moskva seen launching missiles during 2021 exercise in the Black Sea

The governor of the Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said the Ukrainians struck the guided-missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused "serious damage".

A western official told reporters this afternoon that damage to the flagship - regardless of how it was caused - would be an "enormous loss" to the country's military credibility.

In a briefing on Thursday afternoon, a western official said Ukraine's claim of striking the ship was "credible".

"I can't definitively tell you exactly what has happened... but I am not aware previously of a fire onboard a capital warship which has led to the ammunition magazine exploding as a consequence," they said.

"Were that to have been the case - were it just to have been an accident - it's a remarkably inept piece of control by the Russian military. And I find it difficult to believe that that would have been the case in this instance.

"So the claim by the Ukrainian forces, I think, is credible."

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Footage purports to show battle in which Russian cruiser Moskva was damaged

They added: "The loss of the Moskva is a significant loss, I think, a little bit in terms of capability, but in terms of credibility for Russian forces it's an enormous loss - regardless of how it's happened - whether it's as a consequence of ineptitude onboard or an attack by Ukrainian forces.

"Almost regardless of how it's happened, it's a massive blow for Russian credibility about what they're doing in their operation."

The Moskva is the second major Russian ship known to have been severely damaged since the invasion began.

It comes just one day after US president Joe Biden called Russia's actions in Ukraine "a genocide" and approved 800 million dollars (£600 million) in new military assistance to Kyiv, saying weapons from the West have sustained Ukraine's fight so far and "we cannot rest now".

The munitions include artillery systems, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters.

The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia showed their support for Ukraine in a visit on Wednesday to war-ravaged areas and demanded accountability for what they called war crimes.

'If he is not stopped right now in Ukraine, he will go further.'

In one of the most crucial battles of the war in the southern port city of Mariupol, Russian defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said 1,026 troops from the Ukrainian 36th Marine Brigade surrendered at a metals factory.

But Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, told Current Time TV that "the battle over the seaport is still ongoing today".

Russian troops are gearing up for a major offensive in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow-allied separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since 2014.

Mariupol is a key piece in the Russian campaign and lies in the Donbas, which the Russians have pummelled for weeks. It was unclear when a surrender may have occurred or how many forces were still defending Mariupol.

Russian state television broadcast footage Wednesday that it said was from Mariupol showing dozens of men in camouflage walking with their hands up and carrying others on stretchers or in chair holds. One man held a white flag.