Russia’s loss of naval flagship a devastating hit -Experts
DONBAS, UKRAINE - APRIL 12: Ukrainian soldiers are seen in a tank on the frontline in Donbas, Ukraine on April 12, 2022. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Exactly 50 days into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbor, one of the Russian Navy’s most significant warships is either floating abandoned or at the bottom of the Black Sea, a massive hit to a military battling against Ukrainian resistance.
CNN reports that Russian sailors have withdrawn the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, after a fire that detonated ammunition aboard, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
According to state media outlets TASS and RIA, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, the Moskva had been extremely damaged in the incident and that the cause of the fire was being investigated. The Russian reports gave no evidence on possible casualties.
However, hours earlier, a Ukrainian official alleged the Russian warship had been hit by cruise missiles fired from Ukraine.
As a result, large storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite imagery and sensory satellite data, Nexus News has not been able to corroborate the ship has been hit or its current status, but analysts reported that a fire on board such a ship can steer to a catastrophic explosion that could sink it.
Whatever the motive for the fire, the analysts say it strikes hard at the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride, comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.
“Only the loss of a ballistic missile submarine or the Kutznetsov (Russia’s lone aircraft carrier) would inflict a more serious blow to Russian morale and the navy’s reputation with the Russian public,” said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.
“Massive blow”: Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College in London, said losing the warship would be a “massive blow” for Russia.
“Ships operate away from public attention and their activities are rarely the subject of news. But they are large floating pieces of national territory, and when you lose one, a flagship no less, the political and symbolic message — in addition to the military loss — stands out precisely because of it,” he said.
