Free Republic

On the occasion of the sinking of the Moskva, it is worth spending a moment thinking about how the Great Powers of the Black Sea waged naval war against one another in the 20th century, because Moskva is hardly the first modern warship to find her way to the bottom of the Pontus Euxinus. For Russia, the Black Sea has long represented a problem that remains stunningly obvious today; it is a critical theater of naval operations, the control of which can threaten amphibious attacks along its coastlines as well as conduct or prevent blockades of trade from crucial ports....

The Black Sea Fleet returned most of the ships to Sevastopol Bay. Seven Russian ships are moored near the Kuryna pier, including some Project 1135 Thunderbird vessels. Several weeks into the war, the Russian Navy obscured the hull numbers of its ships, in order to make it difficult to identify specific vessels of the same type. A Project 1241 Lightning-1 missile boat is also seen to be moored. Moreover, a Project 1239 Sivuch missile hovercraft is also in Sevastopol. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has a total of three Thunderbird frigates in service: the Admiral Grigorovich (494), the Admiral Essen (490),...

The first image of the guided missile cruiser Moskva of the Russian Navy that sank a few days ago, via @Bormanike. Depending on the side you choose to believe, the ship was either hit by 2x R-360 "Neptun" ASMs, or suffered a catastrophic ammunition fire. You decide.

The Russian navy cruiser Moskva by far is the most powerful warship in the Black Sea. If Russian President Vladimir Putin orders his troops to widen their war in Ukraine, Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, undoubtedly would lead the naval assault. Think of Moskva as a 12,500-ton, 612-foot mobile missile battery with nearly 500 people aboard. She packs enough anti-ship missiles to wipe out the entire Ukrainian navy and enough air-defense missiles to swat away any conceivable aerial attack on the Black Sea Fleet’s amphibious flotilla. Moskva’s value to a Ukraine operation could make her a top...

n the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian warships appeared off a small rock in the Black Sea. Snake Island was, it turned out, minimally defended. But it is strategically located and could potentially provide intelligence to Ukrainian forces about shipping in the area. And taking the island could be symbolic of Russia’s expected victory. History will remember the reaction of the defenders. Border guard Roman Hrybov famously replied to demands to surrender “Russian warship, go F*** yourself!“. The warship sitting off the island was none other than Moskva, the most powerful warship in the Black Sea. A...