war in Ukraine
Sunken warship – Moscow shows video of sailors
The Russian guided missile cruiser Moskva sank on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance / dpa
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The pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, sinks heavily damaged on Wednesday. There is disagreement about the whereabouts of the crew. A video released by Moscow is now said to show the sailors.
After the sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow released a video that is said to show members of the crew.
The commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Nikolai Yevmenov, met with the sailors in Sevastopol, the authority said on Saturday. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has its main base in the city on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
The nearly half-minute clip features dozens of young men in black uniforms. How many there are exactly is difficult to estimate due to the edited sequences. On Twitter, some users said that it could not be the 500 or so crew members who are said to have been on the “Moskva” at the time of the accident.
Ship sank on Wednesday
Seven weeks after Russia’s war against Ukraine began, the “Moskva” (“Moscow”) was badly damaged on Wednesday and then sank. There is disagreement as to whether the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was hit by Ukrainian “Neptune” missiles or – as the Russian side claims – was damaged by ammunition detonation.
According to US information, up to 500 crew members were on board. Moscow said the crew had been evacuated before the boat sank. A spokeswoman for the southern Ukrainian forces, Natalya Humenyuk, said that Russian lifeboats could not get to the burning Moskva due to a storm and could not save the sailors.