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Russian military's damaged Black Sea flagship sinks

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By ADAM SCHRECK

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No, it sunk. Reportedly after all 500 crew were evacuated. Per multiple news sites including CBS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/moskva-russian-navy-ship-missile-cruiser-sinks-after-ukraine-says-it-hit-with-missile-strike/

12 ( +18 / -6 )

Gee, that looks like it was expensive.

But let me guess: we are about to be told that letting the Ukrainians sink the Moskva was Russia’s intention all along, as a diversion. And it worked perfectly, just like their attack on Kyiv.

Putin fans, am I right?

26 ( +36 / -10 )

Ooh, I'd love to have seen Putin's face when he heard the news.

23 ( +32 / -9 )

Total incompetence or another win for Ukraine. Hmmmmm.

18 ( +24 / -6 )

Best news for this morning.

20 ( +29 / -9 )

Ouch! The world is amazed at just how inept the Russian army is. This ship had anti-missile defense. Didn't do it much good. Putin must be aaaaaaaaangry. Boohoo.

21 ( +30 / -9 )

Launched in 1979.

43 years is a very long run for a warship.

I wonder what level on maintenance she had?

One thing is for sure, her anti-ship missile defense system was not up to the job.

23 ( +27 / -4 )

Total incompetence or another win for Ukraine. Hmmmmm.

Both.

15 ( +22 / -7 )

Both

yep. They’ll only admit to the former though

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Is that a carrier strike group sailing through the Dardanelles now? Wishful thinking.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

It’s not sunk.

It’s undertaking a “Special underwater operation”

29 ( +33 / -4 )

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Moskva sank while being towed back to port.

https://gcaptain.com/russian-flagship-sinks-moskva/

The Russians are not admitting the ship was hit by one or more missiles, only that there was a fire and ammunition exploded.

18 ( +20 / -2 )

Many more to come, I hope.

The Ukraine is exposing Russia’s military as the third rate military it is……

18 ( +23 / -5 )

Russia's once-proud armed forces have deteriorated immensely under Putin's rule. Funding armies thru proceeds from corruption is never a good policy.

18 ( +20 / -2 )

The Moskva has begun it's 'special submarine operation'...

17 ( +20 / -3 )

I wonder what level on maintenance she had?

Sister ships of her class visited Norfolk and San Diego in the 1990s. The visits were well documented in the press and in some naval publications, one of which I still have. One of the things US Navy visitors found noteworthy was the complete lack of firefighting and damage control equipment in them. Every compartment and passageway of US and Japanese warships are packed full of fire hoses, fire mains, low light cameras, breathing apparatus, wooden timbers to shore up sagging bulkhead, wooden wedges to hammer into leaks, fire axes, saws, sledge hammers, battery operated battle lanterns, etc.. None of that was apparent on the Russian ships. It doesn't surprise me they could not control the fires and flooding. However they did have a real fancy spa with a pool and fake waterfall for the crew to relax in.

23 ( +25 / -2 )

Russia's once-proud armed forces

Looks like it was always just show. Turns out they're entirely incompetent. The fact that the cold war happened at all just proves the Kremlin is really good at playing a bluff.

10 ( +21 / -11 )

Careful folks, I'm sure this is just a "diversion." ;)

More signs of Russia's burgeoning military power, no doubt.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

The sinking of Putin's Moskva floated my boat especially knowing how it dialed that thug's blood pressure to eleven in the Kremlin.

19 ( +22 / -3 )

This is major egg on the face of Russia. The thing about dictators is that their power is based on image. Russia looking this weak at war makes Putin look weak. And that's when opponents pounce.

11 ( +21 / -10 )

Best news I've seen in a few days. Hope no-one lost their lives in the sinking.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

This is major egg on the face of Russia. The thing about dictators is that their power is based on image. Russia looking this weak at war makes Putin look weak. And that's when opponents pounce.

One thing Ive learned in these last 8 weeks is look to people who couldn't find Ukraine on a map for all your Russia/Ukraine content.

Sure they're new to it. But only posters such as this can pontificate on the incredibly convoluted political environment that is Russia.

-16 ( +6 / -22 )

But only posters such as this can pontificate on the incredibly convoluted political environment that is Russia.

You don’t need a degree in political science to understand losing this ship is another disaster step in Russia’s ‘plan’.

Ship float good. Ship sink bad.

20 ( +23 / -3 )

One thing Ive learned in these last 8 weeks is look to people who couldn't find Ukraine on a map for all your Russia/Ukraine content

Is this a joke? Yes let’s get information from uninformed people who have no clue about what the geopolitical tensions have been around since 2014 and can barely understand where Ukraine is located.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

ok so seeing as Russia is so inept and Ukraine is doing so well, can we stop sending Zelensky a billion dollars every few weeks? Asking for a taxpayer.

-23 ( +6 / -29 )

The hero ship Moskva has been promoted to submarine!

Ukraine have claimed to have sunk it, russia said it was a fire onboard. For any other navy it would be an obvious lie, but with the russian navy’s known incompetence it is actually believable, after all they dropped a crane on their only remaining aircraft carrier and sank its dry dock. However I think it likely the Ukrainians hit it.

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Putin and his Kremlin have shown with regard to WW2 style warfare, they're good at bombing hospitals and maternity wards but not at invading a sovereign nation that wants to remain outside Russia's greasy Iron Curtain , and they're also good at getting their global propaganda machines to say "the other guys did it", while at the same time claiming the otherguys are the Nazis, which their extreme right followers parrot. "Nazi' is a bad name to call anyone, but most Putin followers do not know that the system Putin and his Kremlin direct is fascistic, as close to national socialism, i.e nazism as any the globe has seen since the 1940's. The Austrian Corporal must be smiling in his grave seeing what Putin learned while serving with so many ex-Nazis in East Germany'Stasi.

13 ( +15 / -2 )

Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.

"A fire aboard" seems to be a more serious operational failure and shame although the Russian officials insist on it (and for Ukraine, it means to save their missiles :) ).

Earlier some military experts already warned about a possible attack on the flagship which was wandering around the high-risk areas without proper safety measures, without other escort warships. The Russian complacency turns out to be a big enemy within.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

they're good at bombing hospitals and maternity wards

aside from that being open for discussion, there’s been reports that U-army has been hiding in civilian areas pretty much using civilians as a live vest. If you speak Ukrainian/Russian, you can actually see those interviews (but guessing you don’t).

-21 ( +3 / -24 )

And the Putin appeasers and fan-boys will once again tell us how Putin is "winning" and that the war is going "perfectly" for Russia...

You know - winning as in his flagship is now collecting rust as the bottom of the Black Sea, 15 of his generals/senior officers are dead, his own troops are rebelling and killing their commanders, new atrocities and war crimes emerge each day, his economy is on the verge of default, and he's been shown as a little man with a big fear of sitting next to someone...

It's a strategic blunder even larger than Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003...and that was pretty big...

This massive miscalculation by Putin will turn Russia into an international pariah, sink its economy, and has re-energize Europe and NATO...

But the real tragedy is the thousands of innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children - who's blood will forever remain on Putin's hands...

12 ( +17 / -5 )

Funding armies thru proceeds from corruption is never a good policy.

I agree but some of his followers claim 'he sure knows how to make money', which to them means he's smart. And they also claim he's 'strong' because he directs his forces to plunder (thereby cutting Russian expenses for feeding troops), and he's also 'strong' because he gives orders to kill as many civilians as possible while he sits at his big table in one of his fortified palaces I would not use 'strong' and 'smart' to describe Putin, .but I know the extreme right have their own dictionary of terms. They also laud Putin because he's a 'survivor', but then so are cockroaches and rats.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

ok so seeing as Russia is so inept and Ukraine is doing so well, can we stop sending Zelensky a billion dollars every few weeks? Asking for a taxpayer.

I'd say the Ukrainian armed forces is giving the US taxpayer pretty good bang for their bucks.

Literally.

17 ( +20 / -3 )

The West has built a hill for others to die on.

-23 ( +3 / -26 )

A practical and symbolic kick between the legs there. Good for Ukraine.

18 ( +20 / -2 )

Also Thursday, Russian authorities accused Ukraine of sending two low-flying military helicopters across the border and firing on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo in Russia's Bryansk region, some 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the frontier. Russia’s Investigative Committee said seven people, including a toddler, were wounded.

Russia has a real bleedin cheek complaining of Ukraine aircraft crossing the border and firing on residential buildings in Russia.......

13 ( +16 / -3 )

Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.

Doesn't matter. It has a nice new home in Davy Jones' locker, hopefully with more to follow.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

As I once said, Navies with all their impressive warships are completely outdated and of no real military use. They are not only exposed to own navigation errors , accidents and technical problems, but of course are easy to attack and sink as quasi-static targets. Sounds a bit paradox, but modern warfare needs air superiority and boots on the ground to catch the fish, not ships or boats.

-13 ( +2 / -15 )

Russia's once-proud armed forces have deteriorated immensely under Putin's rule. Funding armies thru proceeds from corruption is never a good policy.

In addition to corruption, which probably explains a lot about Russian military incompetence, one opinion is that a big problem with Russia militarily is that it can't decide if it wants to be a major land power or a major sea power, and it has ended up sucking at both.

The argument there is that Soviet Union had both a very large navy and a very large army. Russia is the successor state to the USSR, and Putin wanted to "restore" the prestige he associates with the military power of the USSR. But he had a big problem, which is that Russia is actually much much smaller and weaker as a country than the USSR was. Russia's population today (144 million) is half what the population of the Soviet Union was in 1990 (287 million). So while the Soviet Union could afford to build and man both a large army and a large navy, Russia just doesn't have enough people (or a large enough economy) to do anything on anywhere near the same scale.

So in terms of defence policy, it would have made sense for Russia to focus its resources on either its army and air force or its navy, but not both, because then it could at least have a good army and air force that could fight on land, or a good navy that could fight at sea. But admitting that would implicitly be accepting that Russia isn't as powerful as the USSR was, which Putin politically refuses to do, so instead he has split military investment between the two.

The result is that he has the worst of both worlds. A weak army that is getting destroyed on the ground, a weak air force that is of surprisingly limited effectiveness and a weak navy that consists of hundreds of vessels most of which can't reach the Black Sea and the few which do are at risk of ending up like the Moskva.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Good! I hope they sink the whole Russian Navy.

13 ( +15 / -2 )

As I once said, Navies with all their impressive warships are completely outdated and of no real military use. 

May be true of the battleships, but not Carrier Strike Groups and littoral combat ships.

70% of the world is ocean, 80% of global trade passes through it, and 80% of the world’s population lives within 300km of it.

Controlling the open seas and littorals is still very much a necessity.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Doesn't Russia has a fleet of 300+ ships? Weird they only send around 20 for this invasion.

The Moskva is pretty old. Build several decades ago.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

While I agree that boots on the ground and air superiority are essential to winning any war, getting your soldiers/marines/aircraft to the area of conflict is done by sea.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

May be true of the battleships, but not Carrier Strike Groups and littoral combat ships.

70% of the world is ocean, 80% of global trade passes through it, and 80% of the world’s population lives within 300km of it.

Controlling the open seas and littorals is still very much a necessity.

I don't know. One thing this war in Ukraine is really highlighting is how easily very expensive pieces of big military hardware (tanks, airplanes, ships) can be destroyed with very inexpensive little things (drones, missiles).

This has got to be a bit concerning for the US navy in particular since it has a lot of very expensive ships that could be quite vulnerable in a conflict to this sort of stuff. Like the threat of it sending a carrier group to intervene if China invades Taiwan is going to be severely blunted if all it takes is the Chinese sending a few hundred drones at it all at once to overwhelm its defences (designed for smaller numbers of larger aircraft or missiles) to take it out.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

So much for the anti-missile defense systems,

Most missile defense systems have a way lower efficacy rate than you would expect. (Especially for ICBM defenses, but that is another topic). Missile defenses are constantly playing catch up to their offensive counterparts, not the inverse.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Russia has plenty of ships.

I wouldn't rejoice too much just yet.

The Russian military could get lethal at any moment and squash Ukraine.

No iam not supporting Putin.

-13 ( +6 / -19 )

Kyo,the US have 11 aircraft carrier,can project power anywhere in the world,Putin making Russian more hated than Al Qaeda,their are 100 of million around the world,hoping for the Russian empire demise,and along with the demise,the people of Russia follow their own collective demise

4 ( +8 / -4 )

The Russian military could get lethal at any moment and squash Ukraine.

Been hearing that for a while now. What exactly are they waiting for at this point? Where is this mythical other Russian military that is actually capable of fighting a war going to come from?

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Aw, Vlad, sad that your precious flagship has gone on a permanent special underwater operation? Never mind, its memory will live on in the special commemorative stamp issued by the Ukrainian Post Office.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8685206/ukrainian-stamp-go-f-yourself-warship/

Apparently it's selling well in Kyiv, better get your order in quick if you want a set.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

It's also a blow to Russian prestige

That was gone a looooooooooooong time ago

15 ( +16 / -1 )

Brilliant news! Cop that, fascist Russia!

The world sees how incompetent the Russian Military is, and they are going to keep experiencing human casualties for as long as their illegal invasion on sovereign Ukraine is happening.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

BeerDeliveryGuy -

Think in terms of supersonic , digital , biological and satellite weaponry instead of conventional.

Quantum computer controls all things digital.

-16 ( +1 / -17 )

Rainday maybe Russian saving their best for a rainy day as the Ukrainian rain on Putin parade

4 ( +7 / -3 )

its been almost 20 years since the last time the US launched a major invasion of another country.

What? Bombing countries is basically the American past-time. You can attack countries without sending in ground troops. In fact if you don't care about collateral damage and civilian lives it is very cost-efficient.

There were 852 US airstrikes in the middle east alone last year, and over 1000 in 2020.

America is definitely not the "good guy" in the world. Russia obviously isn't either, but those aren't the only two choices thankfully.

-6 ( +7 / -13 )

Is that a carrier strike group sailing through the Dardanelles now?

Not unless they're locals. Turkey has exercised its 1936 Montreux Convention rights and closed the Bosporus to all non-Black Sea based warships.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

All those people dead and money wasted for what? This is the most pointless war ever.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

And the cost to Russia for this invasion just got higher. Happy no lives were reported lost, but extremely happy this ship will never launch missiles in anger at Ukraine ever again.

Replacement of such a ship would be in the $2 billion dollar mark or higher.

The longer Putin keeps this conflict going, the higher the cost to Russia and it's people. Can they afford it is the question it must ask itself. At some point this becomes more destructive to Russia and her people than it is worth.

That Ukraine is able to sink the flagship is a huge morale boost for their people and will do little for the morale in the Russian navy.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

What? Bombing countries is basically the American past-time. You can attack countries without sending in ground troops. In fact if you don't care about collateral damage and civilian lives it is very cost-efficient.

There were 852 US airstrikes in the middle east alone last year, and over 1000 in 2020.

Yeah I don't want to get in to defending the US on that (my earlier comment has been moderated it seems) because I agree that it is indefensible.

America is definitely not the "good guy" in the world. Russia obviously isn't either, but those aren't the only two choices thankfully.

That is a fair point, my description of the US as the "good guy" refers specifically to the context of the Ukraine war and its relationship with Russia.

My point was that Russia at the moment has taken over the previous US position as the big power that is invading other countries, threatening to invade others, trampling on international law and generally making itself hated by everyone else. And while yes, the US does a lot of bad stuff elsewhere in the world (especially the Middle East), the position of the US government on the Ukraine conflict seems eminently reasonable to me and I have no problem describing them as being on the "good" side in that one.

Also, politically the US seems to at least be going in the right direction. These awful air strikes in the middle east are mostly the legacy of political decisions made 20 years ago when the Neo cons decided to start their stupid "forever wars". In other words, they don't represent new adventurist policies designed to expand US military power, etc being made today, and in fact for the past few years they've clearly been trying to extricate themselves from them (Afghanistan withdrawal, reduction in air strikes, etc). And when you look at both political parties its abundantly clear that neither of them wants to go down the route of starting new wars ever again, the Neo Con ideology has been thoroughly discredited across the political spectrum there.

In Russia in contrast its obviously moving in the opposite direction.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

BlacklabelToday 09:04 am JST

Ok so seeing as Russia is so inept and Ukraine is doing so well, can we stop sending Zelensky a billion dollars every few weeks? Asking for a taxpayer.

No, When Russia has no forces in Ukraine and the invasion is over, Ukraine territory is once again under its control, then you can ease up on helping them survive.

It might help if you were less inclined to heap scorn on the US government and show less support for Putin and his murdering ways.

Here is a wild thought. How about you support Ukrainian independence and its right to survive and condemn Russian actions instead of believing Putin's warped narrative. Often you sound downright Russian in your posts. For an American that is shameful.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

Russia has plenty of ships.

Not that many in Black sea. And Turkey blocked passage of reinforcements. Sinking “Moskva” is a serious win for Ukraine. I hope there will be more to come when Ukraine receives Harpoon missiles.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

While I agree that boots on the ground and air superiority are essential to winning any war, getting your soldiers/marines/aircraft to the area of conflict is done by sea.

@BeerDeliveryBoy That’s very dangerous and I don’t recommend it, because it only works if aircraft carriers with nuclear weapons as defensive threat measure come fully through all sea and enemy naval defense lines and remain functioning and unattacked. If the accompanying ships are taken out, even the biggest and mighty aircraft carrier is soon out of play, becoming the perfect target for everyone who can shoot at it. You can even let the first day trainees play with it. lol

And in this specific conflict it’s of course not even true at all, as 90% plus x of the troops and equipment came all from land side, forming a three sided entanglement from Belarus to Crimea. The few Russian ships are not decisive for that conflict and cannot even be replaced or number extended because Turkey denies their Bosporus passage.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

Sure, this is a massive military, political, and public relations disaster and defeat for Putin....

I mean, the flagship of his fleet, the most important asset he has in the area, a symbol of pride and Russian military dominance, and one of the few Russian ships that doesn't need a tug to follow it around because it constantly breaks down.....is now rusting at the bottom of the Black Sea...

But hey, it's not all bad news...if the crew did manage to get off with few casualties that speaks very well of Russia's abandon ship procedures...

I'm sure they'll get the chance to demonstrate their excellence in those skills again soon....

4 ( +6 / -2 )

For those unaware, this ship was built in a Ukrainian shipyard, so a little poetic justice that it was the Ukrainians who sunk her.

61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant (SY 445), Nikolayev, Soviet Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Moskva

7 ( +8 / -1 )

At some point this becomes more destructive to Russia and her people than it is worth.

It passed that point a long time ago.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Sinking “Moskva” is a serious win for Ukraine. 

It is only one problem - Ukraine itself can't do this.

There three possibilities.

First. Fire on board.

This is very old Soviet-build ship and fire extinguishing system – its main weak point.

Second. Ukrainian naval mine.

Ukraine has installed a lot of old Soviet naval mines near the coast, but

they are very old, they were torn off their chains (a very old type of sea mines)

Third. USA/UK torpedo/rocket attack

These country (unlike Ukraine) have modern weaponry and well trained staff to such attack. But if it is so… situation became much more complicated.  

In short: Ukraine today has no Navy at all. And no modern coast-to ship rockets.

-14 ( +2 / -16 )

No, When Russia has no forces in Ukraine and the invasion is over, Ukraine territory is once again under its control, 

If you have a chance to receive info not only from Ukrainian/NATO side you have very different picture.

Ukrainian propaganda is really good. The main problem of Ukraine - Ukrainian Army not so good. And they have no Navy at all.

The entire Ukrainian fleet was destroyed in the very first days of the conflict.

-14 ( +2 / -16 )

Rainyday-

Obviously Russia military didn't choose to just squash Ukraine for reasons well established.

And if the Russian military's agenda was genocide then they wouldn't be accepting any Ukrainian into Russia.

And Obviously as we all can see that NATO is cowering to Putin like a wimp blathering with concern of more lethal weaponry being used whilst watching from afar and supplies of weapons.

If the USA military is so almighty and tough then why haven't they stopped Putin ?

Taking credit for sinking a vessel that sunk whilst being towed is simply ridiculous.

The whole Russian military is Obviously not in Ukraine .

Again - if the USA military and NATO were so strong and all powerful then they would have swooped in and stopped the invasion.

But they havent have they !

-16 ( +1 / -17 )

Russian military's damaged Black Sea flagship sinks:

That was reportedly an obsolete warship which had outlived its usefulness.

Anyway, it is to be replaced by a supposedly hi-tech and more effective new one. Right..?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Anyway, it is to be replaced by a supposedly hi-tech and more effective new one. Right..?

Is it? Do you have a link for this? Where is it being built?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Predictable to see all the little Putin and fascist Russia apologists scrambling to put a positive spin on this utter disaster for fascist Russia.

This is a war fascist Russia cannot win. The sooner they realize this and withdraw from sovereign Ukraine, the sooner they can go about rebuilding their shattered nation and economy.

11 ( +15 / -4 )

This is a war fascist Russia cannot win. The sooner they realize this and withdraw from sovereign Ukraine, the sooner they can go about rebuilding their shattered nation and economy.

Agreed, Fighto

Go home, Russia. Just go home.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Lincolnman-

Nah it was an old ship built during the Soviet era and certainly not the Russian military's pride and joy.

The only massive defeat is NATO pathetic attempts to control the situation or USA rhetoric.

This is just the beginning.

It's like a little game of Gi joe and Barbie with hello kitty trying to join in and play in the play pen.

Its a ridiculous senseless Ukraine conflict and with the USA escalating the situation and taking advantage -as usual and dragging other countries into it.

-15 ( +4 / -19 )

What’s the chances of Ukrainian fishermen hauling this ship off, like the farmers were hauling off Russian tanks ?

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Dave, I don't think anyone thinks Russia's military is done.

I think most people are coming around to the fact that this war could last a long time and kill a lot of people.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

If the USA military is so almighty and tough then why haven't they stopped Putin ?

Because the Ukrainians are doing such a good job of it on their own I guess.

Taking credit for sinking a vessel that sunk whilst being towed is simply ridiculous.

Towed because it had just been blown up by Ukrainian missiles.

Or is it now the Russian position that this whole thing was just a routine towing related accident?

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Kyo wa - I know a surefire way to de-escalate this conflict...

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Its a ridiculous senseless Ukraine conflict and with the USA escalating the situation 

Yes, it is a senseless conflict. But it is one that could’ve been avoided by Russia not invading Ukraine.

The only country escalating things is Russia.

If Russia withdrew their military, the situation would deescalate - it ain’t rocket science

15 ( +20 / -5 )

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