Russian flagship ‘stays afloat’ after munitions explosion – Ministry

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its Black Sea flagship Moskva, which took part in Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, is still afloat after a fire caused munitions to explode in edge.

“There is no open fire. Ordnance explosions have ceased. Cruiser Moskva remains afloat,” the ministry said in a statement.

He added that the warship’s “main missile armaments” were undamaged and its crew had been evacuated to nearby ships in the Black Sea.

“Measures are underway to tow the cruiser to port,” the ministry said.

The Ukrainian military said earlier that it hit the Russian warship. The Russian Defense Ministry, however, said the cause of the fire was still being established.

The Moskva – which along with other ships of the Muscovite Black Sea Fleet was blockading the southern city of Mariupol – gained notoriety early in the war when it called in Ukrainian border troops defending the strategic island from the snakes to surrender, only to be defiantly refused.

It was initially believed that the soldiers in question had been killed, but in fact they were taken prisoner.

They were released in a prisoner swap with Russia in late March, according to Ukraine’s parliament.

Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said the soldiers described being taken to an unknown location where they were held in freezing conditions and suffered frostbite.