Second anniversary of Moskva cruiser destruction: Navy spokesman reveals details of special operation

On April 13, 2022, Ukrainian forces hit the Russian cruiser Moskva. Ukrainian military attacked the enemy warship with two Neptune missiles

This was announced by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy Dmytro Pletenchuk.

Pletenchuk said that the first Neptune missile hit the cruiser Moskva and left it without a command staff: "The first missile, after hitting, actually left the ship without a fairly large number of command staff. The crew could no longer receive appropriate commands, and they did not work on their own initiative, and therefore, of course, lost the ship."

The spokesman noted that even though the Russians had three air defense echelons on their warship, they did not use them in full.

"2 out of 3 air defense systems on the ship were completely silent. It was as if there were empty posts, so this Russian "maybe it will work" mentality worked against them once again," he said.

How Russian flagship Moskva sank in the Black Sea

The sinking of the ship was the largest loss of the Russian Navy in the last 40 years.

On April 14, 2022, it was announced that the cruiser had sunk. Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Herashchenko said that, along with part of the crew, the ship's commander Anton Kuprin was also killed.

Valery Kryvorog, son of Russian Black Sea Fleet division commander Rear Admiral Oleg Kryvorog, was killed on the Moskva cruiser, sunk by Ukrainian missiles in the Black Sea.

In Sevastopol, a court declared dead 17 sailors who disappeared as a result of the hit on the cruiser Moskva.

The first combat use of the Neptune missile system, which sank the Russian cruiser Moskva, took place in the last days of February, and it saved Mykolaiv from a Russian landing force. 

Commenting on the destruction of the Russian flagship, Ukrainian Navy commander said that two missiles were not enough to sink the Moskva cruiser, but now it is at the bottom.