Ukrainian forces on Wednesday said that they hit and badly damaged the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, while Russia yesterday said that its crew was forced to evacuate as a result of a fire, without acknowledging an attack.
Odesa Governor Maksym Marchenko said that Ukrainian forces struck the guided-missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused “serious damage.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the ship was damaged, but not that it was hit by Ukraine.
Photo: Reuters
Ammunition on board detonated after a fire of as-yet undetermined causes, the ministry said.
The entire crew was evacuated and the vessel was to be towed to a port, it said.
The cruiser typically has about 500 people on board.
If confirmed, the loss of a cruiser would be a major blow to Russia after the Orsk tank carrier was hit and set on fire in an attack in Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov late last month.
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia showed their support to Ukraine on a visit on Wednesday to war-ravaged areas and demanded accountability for what they called war crimes.
They meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and visited Borodyanka, one of the towns near Kyiv where evidence of atrocities was found after Russian troops withdrew to focus on the country’s east.
“There are no doubts that they committed war crimes. And for that, they should be accountable,” Latvian President Egils Levits said.
“The fight for Europe’s future is happening here,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.
Nauseda called for tougher sanctions, including against Russian oil and gas shipments and all of the country’s banks.
In Mariupol, Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that 1,026 troops from the Ukrainian 36th Marine Brigade surrendered at a metals factory.
However, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the Ukrainian minister of the interior, rejected the claim, telling Current Time TV that “the battle over the seaport is still ongoing today.”
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