Days after the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet Moskva was Sunk by Ukrainian forces in a major blow to the Russian invasion, new pictures of the final days of the cruiser have emerged online.
While the pictures are not yet verified, they show the extent of fire on the Russian warship that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war.
While Ukrainian officials said their forces had hit the vessel with missiles, Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack. The US and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze. Named for the Russian capital, Moskva’s loss is a devastating symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive.
Following the sinking of the vessel, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under attack when the Russians “gave us a maximum of five.”
