The big news last week in our media was that Ukraine had sunk the Russian Black Sea flagship, the Moskva,…..of course the Russians have a different story for the loss of this ship…..
Russia’s flagship Black Sea missile cruiser, the Moskva, has sunk after being “seriously damaged”.
That is as far as the warring sides may agree on – not what caused the sinking.
The Russian defence ministry said ammunition onboard exploded in an unexplained fire and the ship tipped over while being towed back to port.
Ukraine claims it struck the vessel with its Neptune missiles. Unnamed US officials have told US media they believe the Ukrainian version.
The 510-crew warship had led Russia’s naval assault on Ukraine, which made it an important symbolic and military target.
Earlier in the conflict the Moskva gained notoriety after calling on Ukrainian border troops defending Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender – to which they memorably radioed a message of refusal which loosely translates as “go to hell”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61103927
Since the truth that it has sunk….there are questions upon questions about the incident….
About the only thing certain about the Russian war ship Moskva is that it is now at the bottom of the sea. But days after it sank, key questions remain, including how it got there and how many members of its 500-plus crew were injured or worse. Ukraine says it sank the ship with missiles—and the Pentagon believes it—but Russia denies that and says the ship sank in stormy seas while being towed after an onboard fire broke out. On Monday, photos and video appearing to show the damaged ship before it went down emerged on the messaging app Telegram, reports the Moscow Times. The images, which show the ship listing and parts of it engulfed in smoke, have not been verified as authentic.
“I believe the video is real,” journalist Yoruk Isik, an expert on Russian ships, tells the Guardian. “It is the Moskva.” Even if so, the images won’t do much to settle the mystery of what caused the ship to go down. However, the Guardian points out that the ships’ lifeboats are gone, suggesting that the crew was able to escape. Over the weekend, Russia’s defense ministry posted new footage of what it described as a gathering of Moskva sailors, but the Moscow Times notes that only about 100 sailors were present. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Moskva’s sinking has led to a lively public debate in Russia.
“Just explain to me how you managed to lose it,” said Vladimir Solovyev on his prime-time talk show, one that usually sticks to Kremlin talking points. He also openly speculated that Ukraine might indeed have sunk the ship, at odds with Russia’s official line. Also of note: director Vladimir Bortko, a former member of Russia’s parliament, publicly blamed Ukraine for the sinking and said Russia must retaliate, per the Times. “The special military operation has ended, it ended last night when our motherland was attacked,” he said, using the term that Moscow has stipulated in place of “war.” He added that “the attack on our territory is casus belli, an absolute cause for war for real.”
In Saner Thought 
I am intelligent enough to understand that if a missile hits a ship that a fire is certain to ensure and if that was the case, then the fire that ensured most assuredly found its way into the onboard munitions causing an explosion that damaged the ship enough that it would have sunk while being towed .. are there any pictures confirming a towing operation? If not, why not? I see no evidence anywhere that there ever was any attempt to tow the vessel. And, as to the picture of the ship’s crew … did you notice the smiles on some of the faces of the seamen? What did they have to laugh about in that situation? Russia has been lying about everything else .. why not this?
John there are still so many questions and few answer around this situation….but I will keep looking. chuq
Seems fairly obvious that Ukraine sunk the ship with missiles. However, it may be a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, as the sinking of the Black Sea flagship has produced calls for ‘revenge’ from many ordinary Russians. That’s also why I suspect casualties and deaths on board were probably high.
Best wishes, Pete.
The rest of this story has not been written yet….there will be more I feel certain. chuq