ODESSA (HRNW) – Russia s Black Sea flagship sank Thursday after it was engulfed in an inferno that Ukraine said broke out in a missile strike — as the Kremlin complained that Kyiv was targeting its citizens in sorties across the border.
The guided missile cruiser Moskva has been leading Russia s naval effort against its neighbor in the seven-week conflict, in which civilian killings have sparked accusations of genocide.
“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,” the Russian state news agency TASS quoted the ministry as saying.
“Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank.”
Russian state media had not mentioned a rocket attack when quoting the ministry earlier as saying the Moskva was “seriously damaged” by the explosion and ensuing fire, forcing an evacuation.
But Odessa military spokesman Sergey Bratchuk said the ship was damaged by “Neptune domestic cruise missiles”, in an account largely echoed by the regional governor.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine s east and south, civilian evacuations had been set to resume Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, after a day-long pause that Kyiv blamed on Russian shelling.
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