Posted on 04/15/2022 2:52:57 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
The United States now believes that the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of President Vladimir Putin's Black Sea fleet, was hit by two Ukrainian missiles before sinking, according to a senior U.S. official.
The official told reporters on Friday that the vessel had been hit by Neptune anti-ship missiles.
Russia claimed that she sank when being towed in stormy seas after a fire triggered explosions in an ammunition store.
But the official's account backs Ukraine's Operational Command South which claimed that the Moskva began to sink after being hit by Neptune missiles.
Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.
If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident - American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.
'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads - two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations - Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria - to insist on an explanation. 'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.
Meanwhile Ilya Ponomarev, a politician exiled from Russia for opposing Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, said just 58 of the 510-strong crew have since been accounted for - raising the prospect that 452 men went down with the ship in what would be a bitter loss for Vladimir Putin's already beleaguered army.
Russia claims all the Moskva's sailors were 'successfully evacuated' but video taken in Sevastopol overnight shows dozens of cars purportedly belonging to the sailors still parked in the port - suggesting their owners had not returned to collect them.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Ukraine ping
Ukrainian sources have suggested that the Moskva might have carried nuclear cruise missiles. In addition, based on imagery of the parking lot whence the sailors departed, the vast majority of the Moskva’s complement may have gone down with the ship.
Who made the missile?
That is the big question.
Don’t bother asking Russia about it. Whatever they say will be a lie.
L
They are never, ever going to admit that nuclear warheads are on a surface combatant. The Daily Mail is always questionable in its reporting.
Neptune missiles are a Ukrainian product.
L
Cool.
Whatever sunk that ship we can all agree it’s out of action and off the table.
I’d also say it’s safe to say the Russian navy is no longer a factor in this war.
Moreover, the remaining Russian ships are now likely to be swiftly destroyed if they leave the safety of their port defenses.
“...in what would be a bitter loss for Vladimir Putin’s already beleaguered army.”
Not to mention the NAVY to whom they belonged.
Are you sure it was a Neptune missile?
I know that is what is reported, but are we sure?
Meanwhile, Russia is starting to send it’s bombers in. Which is odd that it took this long. The war maybe entering the terror bombing stage.
A few seconds closer to nuclear midnight.
“Who made the missile?”
The Neptune missiles are Ukrainian made variants of the Russian Kh-35 cruise missile.
2 300 pound warheads don’t seem like enough to wreck a ship like that.
I’m guessing the sheer kinetic energy caused by speed + fuel adds a lot to the Blast?
“Who made the missile?”
Apparently Ukraine.
Ukraine is alleged to have been doing a lot of military industrial work that was started under the Soviets.
I’ve read that it is a design derived from a Soviet/Rooskie product.
If Ukraine can do it, the CCP could do also do it to a US aircraft carrier, if they’re lucky enough to get past its defenses.
But I thought a Neptune Missile based only upon it's name would be launched from underwater.
(unless from our Space Force, of course of course)
The Nomad is a really nice background prop.
Are you saying that surface ships don't carry nuclear warheads or just that Russia will never admit to it?
I'm pretty sure our aircraft carriers, and probably other surface ships, do carry nuclear warheads.
Carriers, like tanks, are useless and dead without screening forces.
Absolute proxy war in Ukraine.
US military is having a field day with this proxy war using current military hardware.
Russia stepped into a briar patch set up by CIA and Western intel agencies.
“Meanwhile, Russia is starting to send it’s bombers in.”
Part of the Moskva’s mission was to provide surface-to-air defense for Russian aircraft operating in Ukrainian airspace. Without this floating anti-aircraft battery the Ukrainians have much more leeway to start using their fighters to destroy attacking Russian aircraft including bombers.
At best the bombers could operate from within Russia or Belarus where land based defenses can help to protect them.
The Neptune is a Ukraine copy of the russian SS-N-25 Switchblade AKA the “harpoonski”.
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