More on the Moskva

The New York Times has a fine story on the sinking of the Moskva (Moscow) on Thursday. The largest ship  in the Russian navy, it was built to sink American aircraft carriers and was instead hit and sunk by two home-built Neptune missiles that apparently killed some sailors and caused a fire and perhaps an explosion from onboard munitions. Russia of course denies this and only admits to the fire and explosion; the sinking, supposedly, came about when Moskva was being towed to safety in rough seas. US intelligence confirms the Ukrainian version of the disaster, the largest warship to go down since the Falklands War, forty years ago this month.

Moskva was docked in Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula as recently as April 7, and put to sea shortly after. She was about 120 kilometers (72 land miles) south of Odessa when she was hit. The Neptune is a Ukrainian development of a less sophisticated and shorter-range Soviet-era cruise missile; as upgraded in 2016, it carries a warhead of 150 kilograms (330 pounds) over a lethal range of about 300 kilometers, theoretically putting even Sevastopol in danger. Apparently drones were used to distract Moskva's defenses, and the Neptune's destructive effect was magnified by the explosion of one or more of the vessel's ship-to-shore missiles,  intended to be launched against Odessa or other Ukrainian cities.

Concluded the NYT: "The Moskva inspired awe in those who saw it — bristling with missiles and looming over the landscape — and was the embodiment of Russian power in the region for decades."