The Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk by two Ukrainian missiles, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday, stressing that it is "a big blow" for Russia.

"We estimate that they hit it with two Neptunes," the senior official, who requested anonymity, told a few journalists, thus denying the version of Moscow which claims that its flagship in the Ukrainian theater was "seriously damaged. by a fire.

The senior official, however, did not confirm the information according to which the Ukrainian army had distracted the defense of the Moskva with a drone on one side of the ship while the Neptune, Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, equivalent to the Exocet of the French Navy, were hitting him from the other side.

“We believe there were casualties, but it is difficult to assess how many,” he added, noting that the United States observed survivors picked up by other Russian ships in the vicinity.

“A void in terms of military capabilities”

Russia, which has not officially acknowledged that its flagship Black Sea Fleet was sunk by Ukrainian missiles, said the crew had been evacuated.

"It's a big blow, symbolically," he added.

But above all, the loss of the Moskva, one of the three Slava-class cruisers available to Russia, “creates a vacuum in terms of military capabilities” in southern Ukraine, where President Vladimir Putin has decided to focus his next offensive. .

In accordance with the Montreux Convention, "Turkey does not allow warships to enter the Black Sea, and therefore (the Russians) will not be able to replace it with another Slava-class ship", he said. he explains.

Ankara controls access to the Black Sea through the Treaty of Montreux, signed in 1936, which guarantees free movement on the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles Strait, but grants it the right to block warships in the strait in times of conflict, unless they have to return to their bases.

The sinking of the Moskva could push the Russian Navy to show more caution and less commitment in the Ukrainian theater, also estimated the senior Pentagon official.

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War in Ukraine: The cruiser Moskva sinks, the Pentagon hails a "hard blow" for the Russian army

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