Russian sailors evacuated the cruise ship with guided missiles Moskva, the flagship of its fleet in the Black Sea, after a fire that fired ammunition on the ship, Russian state media reported on Wednesday. State media TASS and RIA, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, reported that Moscow was severely damaged in the incident and that the causes of the fire are being investigated. The Russian reports did not provide information on possible victims. Hours earlier, however, a Ukrainian official claimed that the Russian warship had been hit by cruise missiles fired from Ukraine. Due to heavy storms over the Black Sea disguising satellite images and satellite data, CNN could not visually confirm the ship’s impact or current condition, but analysts said a fire on such a ship could lead to catastrophic explosion that could sink it. Whatever the cause of the fire, analysts say it severely damages the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride, comparable to the U.S. Navy that lost a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today. “Only the loss of a submarine-launched ballistic missile or Kutznetsov (Russia’s only aircraft carrier) would deal a serious blow to Russian morale and the navy’s reputation to the Russian public,” said Carl Schuster, a retired former U.S. Navy chief of staff and at the US Pacific Joint Information Center. “Massive blow”: Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College London, said the loss of the warship would be a “massive blow” to Russia. “Ships operate away from the public eye and their activities are rarely in the news. “But they are large floating pieces of national territory, and when you lose one, a flagship no less, the political and symbolic message – apart from the military loss – stands out precisely because of that,” he said. Read more:
