At the time of the explosion on board the “Moskva”, the ship was in the open sea off the port city of Odessa. Maksym Marchenko, governor of Odessa, confirmed the attack on Thursday night via Telegram that “Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea” had “inflicted very serious damage” on the ship.
It is now certain that the rockets were fired by Ukrainian forces. More than 300 people may have been killed on board the “Moskva” by the explosions of the warheads and stored guided missiles.
With a length of 187 meters and a possible crew of up to 610 men, the “Moskva” is the largest combat ship in the Russian Navy. The ship, which specializes in guided missile missions, was put into service in 1982.
The ship took part in the war between Russia and Ukraine from February 11, 2022. According to Ukrainian information, the Russian Navy – with the participation of the ship – has set up a naval blockade in the Black Sea. The ship is also said to have been involved in a naval maneuver the following day.
After the attack on the Russian Navy’s flagship in Ukraine, the Moskva, many questions remain unanswered. One of the most important: did the “Moskva” have nuclear weapons on board?
Due to the tense situation with NATO and the resulting possible further escalation scenarios, it is possible that the “Moskva” also had nuclear warheads on board.
If Russia’s flagship of the Black Sea Fleet actually stored nuclear weapons, the consequences could be dramatic. The fact that a fire developed on the “Moskva” was confirmed by both the Ukrainian and Russian sides. If nuclear weapons were on board and radioactive radiation was released, it would be catastrophic.
In addition, the missile cruiser did not sink in shallow waters but in the depths of the Black Sea, which makes it difficult to recover nuclear weapons. The average water depth of the Black Sea is 1253 meters.
