Men sit next to a wreath for the Russian flagship Moskva and its crew in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine, April 15, 2022


Friday’s Coverage: Russia’s Flagship Sinks After Reported Ukraine Missile Strike


UPDATE 2000 GMT:

Russia has finally presented some of the 508 crew of its Black Sea flagship Moskva, which sank early Thursday, possibly after a Ukrainian missile strike.


UPDATE 1015 GMT:

At least one person was killed and eight wounded on Saturday morning when two rockets struck a shopping center in central Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine.

The attack, just before noon, set the building on fire and spattered debris across a city block.

In southern Ukraine, at least five people were killed and another 15 injured amid heavy Russian bombardment of the port city of Mykolaiv.

One of the victims died after picking up unexploded ordnance.

In Kyiv, one person has been killed and several seriously injured by missile strikes.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defences were trying to blunt the attacks, but the “enemy is ruthless”.

Once again, I appeal to everyone: please do not ignore the air alarms. And those Kyivites who left earlier and are already going to return to the capital, I ask you to refrain from this and stay in safer places.

In western Ukraine, the head of the Lviv regional military administration said anti-aircraft systems downed four Russian cruise missiles.

Maksym Kozytsky said the Russian aircraft that fired the missiles took off from Baranovichi airfield in Belarus.


UPDATE 0955 GMT:

Overnight Russian airstrikes killed at least two people and injured four in central and eastern Ukraine.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai reported at least one fatality and three wounded. He said a gas pipeline was damaged in Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk.

“Evacuate, while it is still possible,” Gaidai wrote on Telegram.

An attack on a village near Poltava in central Ukraine killed at least one person and wounded another.


UPDATE 0717 GMT:

In an interview with CNN, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and about 10,000 injured during the Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy estimated that 19,000 to 20,000 Russian soldiers have been slain.


UPDATE 0710 GMT:

The Ukraine military says Russia is “focused on the regrouping and strengthening of troops” in preparation for a possible ground offensive in the east of the country.

The report noted the “partial blockade” of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and “its shelling with artillery”. It also cited the elevated threats of missile strikes from Russian warships in the Black Sea, a day after the besieged city of Mariupol was struck for the first time with the long-range weapons.

There are “no significant changes” in the city of Severodonetsk, where officials report heavy fire and the destruction of about 70% of the city. Of the 135,000 residents, only about 20,000 residents remain. There is also continued fighting in Slobozhansky, including Russian ground, airborne, and coastal troops, Popasna, and Rubizhne.

The military said 10 Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were repelled in the last 24 hours, with the destruction of three tanks, an armored personnel carrier, two cars, and three artillery systems. An armored personnel carrier was captured.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: Concern is growing over the death toll on the Russian flagship Moskva, as authorities release little information about the onboard explosion, possibly from a Ukrainian missile strike, which sank the missile cruiser on Thursday.

Ukrainian officials said on Friday that the warship’s captain, Anton Kuprin, had been killed in the explosion and fire. Beyond that, there is no information on casualties among the 508 crew.

Russian officials have given limited and inaccurate information through the past 48 hours about the fate of the warship and crew. They said initially that an explosion had detonated ammunition, without specifying the cause, and that the Moskva was being towed to the Russian-occupied port of Sevastopol in Ukraine’s Crimea. Later on Thursday, they said the warship had sunk in “stormy sea conditions”.

However, Ukrainian officials said the 610-foot, 12,500-ton missile cruiser was struck by two Neptune anti-ship missiles, a claim supported by “senior US defense officials”. Satellite images indicated the stricken warship had sunk soon after the explosion, bolstering the account of Lithuania Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas:

At 1.14 a.m., the cruiser lay on its side, and after half an hour, all the electricity went out. From 2 a.m., the Turkish ship evacuated 54 sailors from the cruiser, and at about 3 a.m., Turkey and Romania reported that the ship had completely sunk. The related loss of Russian personnel is still unknown, although there were 485 crew on board (66 of them officers).

On Friday, journalists noted the paucity of information from Russian authorities;

A Ukrainian report said 14 sailors, including the chief of the Moskva’s medical service, were taken to Sevastopol. Meanwhile, the Russian State news agency TASS edited its initial claim that the “entire crew” had been evacuated, removing the word “entire”.

Shock in Russia, Celebration in Ukraine

Giving substance to the Ukrainian account of a missile attack on the flagship, Russia attacked the military factory near Kyiv which makes Ukraine’s Neptune anti-ship missiles. A workshop and an administrative building were seriously damaged.

The attack was the first major Russian strike around the capital in more than two weeks.

Commentators on Russian State TV came close to acknowledging that the Moskva was doomed by Ukrainian missiles, as they talked about wiping out “Ukraine-ness” and spoke of “World War III”.

“Just the fact there is an attack on our territory is casus belli, an absolute cause for war. A real war, no fooling around,” said Russian film director and former MP Vladimir Bortko. “The Moscow cruiser is absolutely a cause for war. One hundred per cent. It’s our flagship. There’s nothing to think about. We need an answer.”

Other hosts and pundits played down the sinking. Margarita Simonyan, the head of RT, wrote, “The Moscow cruiser is a year older than me.”

Ukrainians celebrated the naval victory, the first sinking of a Russian cruiser since 1941 and a flagship cruiser since the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted:

Others noted the defiance of Ukrainian troops on Snake Island when the Moskva demanded their surrender on the first day of the Russian invasion: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself!” — a response now commemorated in a national postage stamp.