Ukraine war: Dramatic images appear to show sinking Russian warship Moskva

Society 17:25 19 Apr, 2022

Unnamed US officials have told US media they believe the Ukrainian version

Ukraine war: Dramatic images appear to show sinking Russian warship Moskva

The video and images match the shape and design of the missile cruiser.

Russia says a fire onboard caused ammunitions to explode and the vessel sank as it was being towed in a storm. Ukraine says it hit it with missiles, Qazet.az reports.

The new images do not immediately back the claims of either side - but there is no sign of a storm at the time.

What do the video and images show?

The images were allegedly taken on 14 April, a day after Ukraine claimed to have struck the warship.

The three-second video clip - likely taken from a rescue boat - shows the Moskva in the distance listing heavily on her port side.

A tug, likely a Russian Shakhter, is on its right.

Smoke can be seen billowing out of the ship, with a section of the freeboard heavily damaged.

Holes are also visible in other parts of the freeboard in one picture, suggesting the warship had taken in a substantial amount of water.

 

It also appears all of the vessel's lifeboats had been deployed.

Is there more detail on the cause?

Ukraine says it successfully struck the Moskva with two recently-introduced Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles last Wednesday.

Unnamed US officials have told US media they believe the Ukrainian version.

Russia alleges it was damaged after an explosion and subsequently sank because of "stormy seas".

The BBC showed the footage to three naval experts who agreed the damage appeared consistent with a missile attack, but disagreed over whether other causes were still possible.