Ukraine Russia War: Russia mentioned the crew on the broken missile cruiser had been evacuated. (File)

Odessa:

The Russian navy’s Black Sea flagship has been “seriously damaged” by an ammunition explosion, Russian state media mentioned Thursday.

“As a result of a fire, ammunition detonated on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian defence ministry was quoted as saying, including that the reason for the hearth was being decided and that the crew had been evacuated.

Earlier, the governor of Odessa mentioned that Ukrainian forces had hit the Moskva with missile strikes.

“Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!” governor Maksym Marchenko wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych mentioned that “a surprise happened” with the Moskva.

“It burns strongly. Right now. And with this stormy sea, it is unknown whether they will be able to receive help,” he mentioned in a YouTube broadcast.

“We don’t understand what happened.”

The Moskva was initially constructed within the Soviet period in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv, and entered service within the early Eighties, in keeping with Russian media.

With a crew of 510, it was beforehand deployed within the Syria battle the place it served as naval safety for the Russian forces’ Hmeimim airbase.

The missile cruiser carries 16 P-1000 Vulkan anti-ship missiles in addition to an array of anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons, the studies mentioned.

The Moskva gained notoriety early within the struggle when it known as on Ukrainian border troops defending the strategic Snake Island to give up, solely to be defiantly refused.

The troops in query had been initially believed to have been killed, however in truth had been taken captive.

They had been launched as a part of a prisoner alternate with Russia in late March, in keeping with the Ukrainian Parliament.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova mentioned the troopers had described being taken to an unknown location the place they had been held in freezing circumstances and suffered frostbite.

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