Russia announces the sinking of the cruiser "Moskva" .. and America: a "big blow" to the Moscow fleet

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced, Thursday evening, that bad weather conditions led to the sinking of the cruiser "Moskva", which caught fire due to an explosion of ammunition.

The defense said in a statement that "during the towing of the cruiser "Moskva" to port, it lost its ability to balance and float."

The statement indicated that the bad weather conditions at sea and the damage caused to it as a result of the fire led to its drowning.

For its part, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) commented, saying that the sinking of the cruiser Moskva dealt a "major blow" to the Russian fleet.

Earlier today, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a fire had broken out on board the Russian missile cruiser "Moskva".

"The crew of the cruiser Moskva has been evacuated, and the cause of the fire is being investigated," the ministry said in a statement.

"As a result of the fire, ammunition on board the cruiser Moskva exploded, causing severe damage," the ministry added.

The cruiser "Moskva" of the Black Sea Fleet entered service in 1983 under the name "Slava".

The ship is basically a naval version of the S-300 long-range air defense system. In addition to anti-air missiles, this Russian ship is armed with anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine missiles and torpedoes.

The cruiser has a total weight of 11.3 thousand tons, a length of 186 meters and a width of 21 meters, crew - 680 people, cruising range - 7 thousand miles (11.27 thousand km), speed - 32 knots (59.26 km / h).

A gas-fired power plant was installed in "Moskva".

The total power of the ship's engines is estimated at 90,000 hp.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news