Russia's Famed Black Sea Fleet Loses Its Pride, The Warship Moskva To Fire; Ukrainians Claim They 'Struck It With Missiles'

Russian Black Sea fleet's flagship Moskva has been seriously damaged and its crew members forced to evacuate, the Russian state media has confirmed.

The Russian defence ministry has also released a statement confirming that the famed warship has indeed been damaged and that the entire crew has been evacuated.

The Russian defence ministry claims that ammunition on Moskva exploded due to an unexplained fire on the naval vessel. Russia's defence ministry added another statement claiming that fire onboard had been contained and that the warship would be towed back to a safe port.

This is Russia's version of events. The Ukrainians have a different version. They have claimed responsibility for the fire on Moskva. The Ukrainians say that they attacked the warship with Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles.

The Ukrainians have said that the warship began to sink at one point but the Russians maintain that it is still afloat.

Russians have so far refused to give any explanation for the fire on Moskva. Both the claims may be true. In other words, a scenario is possible where Ukrainian missiles stuck the naval vessel, and then ammunition on the vessel began exploding as a result.

However, Ukrainians have shown a preponderance to disseminating propaganda for the purpose of boosting the morale of their forces, a practice that is not uncommon in war.

It does come at the cost of making Ukrainian statements less trustworthy. At the time of this article's publication, no news agency has verified the claims being made by the Ukrainian forces with proof.

According to reports, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeatedly declined to answer questions about the fate of the Moskva during a daily media call.

"This is a topic for the Ministry of Defense, I can't say anything," he said.

Pentagon's Press Secretary John Kirby said, "We're not quite exactly sure what happened here. We do assess that there was an explosion, at least one explosion on this cruiser. A fairly major one at that, that has caused extensive damage to the ship".

"We assess that the ship is able to make its own way, and it is doing that; it's heading more towards, now, we think the east. We think it's probably going to be putting in at Sevastapol for repairs," he added.

Regardless of the cause, the statement by Russia's defence ministry stating that it 'has to be towed' is enough to decipher that the Moskva will remain combat ineffective for a significant time.

This will have serious implications for the morale of Ukrainians on the battlefield. It will boost their confidence and influence the intensity with which they fight on the battlefield.

There are obvious tactical implications as well, even if one keeps the issue of morale aside. Moskva was providing air cover for other ships, which may now be more at risk of aerial attack.

Beyond the tactical implications, the larger issue is that of symbolism. The Moskva has for long been a symbol of Russian military might. No matter what the cause, the damage to Moskva is bad news for Kremlin and good news for Kyiv.

Ironically, the Moskva was originally built in Ukraine during the Soviet era. It entered service in the early 1980s and was originally named 'The Slava'. It has been upgraded to keep up with the changing technology. In 1995, it was modernised and renamed Moskva. It re-entered service in 1998.

It is a Slava class cruiser and is the third-largest naval vessel in Russia's active fleet, making it one of the most heavily defended assets. The vessel is supposed to be equipped with a triple-tier air defence system.

Along with medium- and short-range defences, it is equipped with close-in weapon systems (CIWS). In other words, it should have a 360-degree anti-air defence coverage. The CIWS system fires 5,000 rounds a minute, which creates a wall of flak around the warship and acts as its last line of defence.

If the Ukrainians did indeed succeed in striking the warship with Neptune missiles, it indicates that Russia's surface fleet hasn't undergone the modernisation it is supposed to, or it had engineering issues. This will make importers of Russian military technology consider if they should diversify the source of their military technology and equipment.

The Ukrainian Neptune missiles are a category of anti-ship cruise missiles. They have a range of around 280 km on paper and weigh 870 kg. It is armed with a warhead of high explosive fragmentations. It was developed by Ukraine after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

With both Russia and Ukraine giving different versions, precisely what led to the incident remains unknown. Given that Moscow tried to keep the development under wraps, it can be safely assumed that neither version makes Russia look good. If it resulted from an accident, it shows a lack of preparedness on Russia's part. If it was a result of a Ukrainian missile strike, it signals Russian incompetence.

Only the loss of the Kuznetsov (Russia's lone aircraft carrier) or a submarine would inflict a more serious blow to the Russian Navy's reputation.