Russia has on Thursday said the flagship of its Black Sea fleet was seriously damaged and its crew evacuated following a fire that caused an explosion.
“As a result of a fire, ammunition detonated on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian Defence Ministry was quoted as saying, adding that the cause of the fire was being determined and that the crew had been evacuated.
For its part, Kiev said that its forces had hit the Russian warship with a missile strike, but this claim could not be verified.
The Moskva cruiser belongs to the Black Sea Fleet, and entered service in 1983 under the name Slava. Its main weapon consists of 16 Vulcan B-1000 rocket launchers.
