Russian warship hit by two Ukrainian missiles before sinking: Pentagon

Russia’s Moskva warship turned into hit by using two Ukrainian missiles before it sank in the Black Sea, a senior Pentagon professional stated Friday, calling it a “big blow” for Moscow.

Briefing journalists on condition of anonymity, the respectable confirmed Kyiv’s account of the incident — which Russia said turned into due to exploding ammunition on board.

“We determine that they hit it with Neptunes,” the respectable said, regarding Ukrainian anti-deliver cruise missiles.

He said the strikes were believed to have caused casualties, but that it was “difficult to assess how many,” adding that the United States had observed survivors being recovered by other Russian vessels in the area.

Russia has said the Moskva’s crew was evacuated to nearby ships.

The missile cruiser had been leading Russia’s naval effort in the seven-week conflict in Ukraine, playing a central role in the siege of the port city of Mariupol.

It sank Thursday after an explosion and fire that Ukraine claimed was caused by a missile strike — while Russia said damage caused by exploding ammunition had caused the ship to “lose its balance” as it was being towed to port.

“It’s a big blow symbolically,” the Pentagon official said. “There is a pride aspect.”

A knock-on effect of the sinking, he predicted, could be a form of “risk aversion” in the Russian navy.

But even extra, he stated, losing the Moskva — considered one of simply three Slava-class cruisers in Moscow’s fleet — creates a “functionality gap” for the Russian army in southern Ukraine.

Under the Montreux convention, he defined, Turkey keeps the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits closed to warships in times of war, that means Moscow can’t dispatch a alternative for the Moskva to the Black Sea