Ukraine has claimed to have hit the ship with two Ukrainian missiles, while Russia has only claimed that ammunition caught fire on the ship.
The Russian military stated earlier in the day that the ship had been evacuated and was to be towed to port.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Reuters news agency that the United States could not currently verify that the ship had been hit by a Ukrainian missile.
- We do not have the capacity right now to decide that, but absolutely, in the way this has developed;
it is a major setback for Russia, says Jake Sullivan.
"Loss of prestige and ability"
Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi, a teacher of military strategy at the Stockholm Defense College, describes Russia's loss of the flagship Moscow as a loss of prestige and capability.
- It is remarkable, he says.
- The loss for Russia is not so important for the war in Ukraine, but the ship was intended to strike against, for example, aircraft carrier groups and protect air defenses, so this was a factor that made it possible to operate freely in the Black Sea, and now it is gone, continues he.
The ship Moscow
Moscow is a Russian missile cruiser that was commissioned in 1983 and is the Russian flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.
The ship is over 180 meters long and 20 meters wide, has a maximum speed of 32 knots and a significant air defense capability with cannon, rockets and missiles.