A former admiral once said that the first thing you learn is to never lose your flagship. True, that would look bad. But Russia has managed to do just that through its ineptness. Now, the ship named after Moscow (Moskva) is limping back to shore.
In the early days of the war, the Moskva went to Snake Island and called for a small group of Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender. Instead, one of the soldiers replied with the universal double “f*** you” sign and told the ship where it could go. And given the fire aboard the ship, it was well on its way there.
The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea had been in charge of the Moscow naval assault. But Thursday, it was being towed into port after the Russians refused to give the Ukrainian missiles the credit for damaging it. Instead, President Vladimir Putin claimed that they blew the ship up themselves. In other words, the Russians managed to nearly sink the Moskva through incompetence, according to NDTV:
‘The damage to the Moskva missile cruiser was caused by ammunition detonating “as a result of a fire”, the Russian defence ministry was quoted as saying, adding that the cause of the blaze was being investigated.’
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said:
‘[W]e don’t understand what happened.’
After the crew of 500 was evacuated, the Russian Defense Ministry finally admitted to the state media, NBC News reported:
‘[But] the ship was seriously damaged.’
Putin warned Kyiv that his military would bomb the city and all of its command centers should the Ukrainian government “launch attacks on Russian soil.” Never mind that he has been ordering his soldiers to bomb Ukrainian cities into nothing but rubble and leave people trapped in basements to starve to death.
For instance, Russia’s Black Sea warships have been isolating Mariupol and other cities along the coastline and bombing them out of existence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to President Joe Biden for an hour on Wednesday, making his case for more weaponry. As a result, President Biden released another $800 million military package for him. This time it included helicopters, too.
As Russia entered stage four of the war, President Biden’s military package to Ukraine “carried armored personnel carriers and weaponry:”
‘[These weapons would] give them a little more range and distance.’
International prosecutors called Ukraine a “crime scene.”
Within the past 24 hours, a total of 40,000 Ukrainians abandoned their country, according to the United Nations. That takes the number of refugees leaving their homes up to 4.6 million.
Governor of Lugansk, Ukraine Sergiy Gaiday said that about 400 residents have been trapped there since the beginning of Russia’s attack on the country. One Ukrainian, Maria who preferred to not use her last name, told AFP:
‘There’s no electricity, no water, But I prefer to stay here, at home. If we leave, where will we go? The bombings? It’s like this all the time.’
Hague’s International Criminal Court (ICC), where war crimes have been tried, sent investigators to Ukraine. Its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan went to Bucha to see the colossal damage and atrocities. Gostomel Regional Prosecutor Andiy Tkach said:
‘We’re here because we have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed.’
One man loading refrigerated trailers with bodies, Igor Karpishen, said:
‘Our citizens are murdered and we must bury every person in the right way.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
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