Cruiser Moskva sank

The cruiser Moskva, which had previously caught fire and detonated ammunition, sank, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“During the towing of the Moskva cruiser to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to damage to the hull received during the fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank," the ministry said. The stability of a vessel is its ability to return to a state of equilibrium after the influence of external forces, such as strong waves or wind.

The Ministry of Defense did not report where the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, was located at the time of the fire. According to the operational forecast of the Unified State System of Information on the Situation in the World Ocean (ESIMO) dated 12:00 on April 14, at 15:00, a strong wind (more than 20 m/s) was expected in the Black Sea, it should have reached its maximum speed in the Tuapse area . Then, according to the forecast, the wind should have subsided: from 18:00 to midnight it should have been from 15 to 20 m/s (the strongest wind was expected in the central and eastern parts of the Black Sea), later - less than 15 m/s.

According to the Gismeteo service, at about 23:00 Moscow time on Thursday in Sevastopol it was cloudy, a northeast wind was blowing at a speed of 3 m/s. It was also cloudy in Novorossiysk, it was raining. The wind was from the south, the speed was 4 m/s. The Yandex weather service showed that there was no rain over the entire Black Sea, with the exception of the coastline from Gelendzhik to Sochi.

The fire on board the cruiser was reported by the Ministry of Defense on the night of April 14. As a result, the ammunition detonated, but later the department reported that the fire was localized and the ammunition explosions had stopped. The crew of the ship was evacuated, and the Moskva itself was seriously damaged. At the same time, the ministry emphasized that the cruiser remains buoyant.

Experts interviewed by RBC believe that the failure of the cruiser is unlikely to have an impact on the course of hostilities in Ukraine, where the Russian operation is taking place. As explained by Ilya Kramnik, an employee of the Center for North American Studies of the IMEMO RAS, a specialist in the Navy, the cruiser primarily provided information obtained using its RADAR system.

Vasily Kashin, DIRECTOR of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, expert of the Russian International Affairs Council, specified that Moskva was outdated long before the start of the special operation.