Russian forces recently sustained a remarkable loss when the Moskva, a large warship, sank after it was hit by Ukrainian missiles. The ship was “the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War II. The ship was believed to have roughly 500 crew, and it’s not clear how many of them are casualties of the fire and subsequent sinking,” as Business Insider explains. Ukrainian officials including Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and MP Lesia Vasylenko mockingly piled on the Russian regime over the sinking of the Moskva warship. Reznikov quipped, for instance, that the wreckage would be a noteworthy diving site. As Reznikov put it on Twitter:
‘A “flagship” russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war. BTW, I already have 300 scuba dives.’
A "flagship" russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war.
BTW, I already have 300 scuba dives pic.twitter.com/q2Buc51qeI— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) April 15, 2022
After initial uncertainty, Reuters reporter Idrees Ali shared this Friday that the “U.S. now believes the Russian warship Moskva that sunk was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles, a senior U.S. official says.” Moskva is the English transliteration of the Russian word for Moscow; in other words, the sizable warship, which is now at the bottom of the Black Sea, was named after the Russian capital — marking yet another high-profile strategic loss for Russian forces, even as they continue their brutal assaults on Ukraine. Vasylenko, meanwhile, chimed in as follows this week:
‘Moskva battle ship went down with missiles and ammo used to target #Ukrainian cities and towns. Now it’s part of the submarine fleet.’
Moskva battle ship went down with missiles and ammo used to target #Ukrainian cities and towns. Now it’s part of the submarine fleet https://t.co/IMaLGruOIS
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) April 14, 2022
Ukrainian authorities believed that “escalation” by Russian forces in the southern regions of the country would follow the Moskva’s sinking, as The Kyiv Independent summarized recent developments. The U.S. is continuing to provide substantial tranches of weapons for the Ukrainian defense. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently broke down the latest $800 million package in part as follows: “This new package features a host of additional capabilities in response to the Ukrainian Government’s requests, including artillery, armored vehicles, helicopters, and Unmanned Coastal Defense Vessels, as well as engineering and field support equipment, in addition to supplementing anti-armor and anti-personnel capabilities, counter artillery, and air defense radars, tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, body armor, and combat medical equipment.”
⚡️ Russian troops set up booby traps in civilians' cars, houses before leaving Kyiv Oblast.
Andriy Nebytov, head of Kyiv Oblast's police, reported a number of incidents that left locals injured, and killed at least one person.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 15, 2022
