Russia loses a guided missile cruiser, the Moskva

 

The cruiser Moskva. BBC/AFP.

Russia has lost their guided missile cruiser, the Moskva. BBC. The cruiser had been damaged though Russia and Ukraine had different versions of what happened. Russia says that the ship had been damaged when a fire spread to the ships magazine. The ship then sank as it was being towed back to port. The Ukrainians claim that they hit the cruiser with Neptune anti-ship missiles. If the Ukranian claim is correct then it would be the largest warship lost since World War II and the second major naval vessel destroyed by the Ukrainians. Last month the Russians lost the Saratov, a landing ship, to a missile strike. 

My Comment:

This is another of those situations where we don't know which side is telling the truth. I don't trust either side of this conflict and both sides have a huge motivation to lie here. Ukraine needs a morale boost and Russia doesn't want to admit they lost a ship. 

I do find either scenario plausible though. It's not like Ukraine doesn't have these missiles and it's very possible that they hit the ship. And if the missiles did hit than it makes sense that it would sink and be destroyed. 

But the Ukrainians have not offered much in the way of evidence that they actually did do this. The only evidence I have seen is a twitter video that was of so low of quality it was impossible to verify anything, other than whoever posted it needed a new video camera. And they obviously have a reason to lie about it. 

The alternate scenario is just as plausible. The Moskva would not be the first ship lost to an out of control fire that spread to the magazine. Fires happen all the time and it's an easy way to lose the ship. And it wouldn't have to happen in combat either. 

I slightly suspect the Russian scenario, largely because it's still extremely embarrassing to the Russians to lose the ship to an accident. Indeed, I think it's so much more embarrassing for them to lose the ship to a fire compared to enemy action.  

I have to say that this is another example of the Russian military not being anywhere near as impressive as we all thought. Losing a ship in either scenario does not inspire confidence in the Russians. Either way it looks horrible for them. And it's not the first incident that has shown that the Russians are not doing as well as they should be. 

It really makes me wonder why the Russians have not focused on using all of their weapons. You would have thought that missile sites like the one that may have launched this attack would have been the first destroyed in air raids. But Russian air power has not been a huge factor in this war. I don't know if it's because of fear of losing their assets, lack of supplies, fear of civilian casualties or just different tactical doctrine. Regardless of the reason, they should change course fast if they don't want to lose more ships like this.