Moskva Warship's Sinking a $750 Million Loss for Russian Military

4.14.22
The sinking of the Moskva, a Russian warship that Ukraine claims to have struck with a missile attack on Thursday, was a $750 million hit to the Russian military, according to an analysis by Forbes Ukraine. The news outlet reported that Ukraine has destroyed more than 5,000 pieces of Russian equipment since the war began in late February, but that the loss of the Moskva is the most expensive. Forbes Ukraine calculated the approximate cost of the ship by comparing it to similar cruisers, which cost $720 million in 1995. "It could easily be $700 million to replace that ship, but given the state of decay we've seen in the Russian military, we doubt they have the money to even replace it," Sean Spoonts, editor-in-chief of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek.

Some experts said that the destruction of the ship could signify a major shift in the Ukraine-Russia war. "If Ukraine can challenge the Black Sea Fleet (and it appears they can) then taking back Crimea is very much in the cards. Total victory possible," security expert Paul Massaro wrote on Twitter. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. "The historic performance of the Ukrainian military vs. the dismal showing by the Russians is really something to behold," Massaro added. "For Putin's Regime this is a crucial moment as the ship was the visual epitome of Russian Global Might," Daniel Kurz, professor of political science and history at Middlesex County College tweeted.

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Rogue Valley said:

Moskva Warship's Sinking a $750 Million Loss for Russian Military

From Ukrainian sources off the record -- after darkness fell, Ukraine flew 3 Turkish TB-2 drones over the Black Sea to a position that would get the attention of the Moskva. The ship did detect these drones, but apparently the Moskva captain did not want to expend any cruise missiles on the Turkish drones. The Moskva then turned so she was the bow-on to the Turkist drones. This profile would be the best way to monitor the drones and if necessary bring her defensive weapons to bear on them. (the Moskva only had a 180° frontal defense system) This response was exactly what the Ukrainians wanted - because it exposed the entire port side of the Moskva to Odesa. As rain began to fall, 2 Ukraine Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were fired at the Moskva from a mobile shore battery in Odesa. The rain would have degraded the air and surface search radar on the Moskva. At 12 miles from the Moskva the Neptunes decended from flying 50' above the water to skimming just 3' above the water with a speed of 700 mph. At this time the Neptune radars would have locked on to the ship. The attack was also timed to coincide with the midnight shift change aboard the Moskva. In the video, there is initially blackness and a large moon. Then one can see many flickers of light. This would be the defensive guns on the Moskva trying to shoot down the Neptunes. Then we see a blinding flash. This is a Neptune striking Moskva. It is thought that perhaps the Russians managed to shoot down the 2nd Neptune over the water. The Neptune strikes a ship on the hull in a flat trajectory. Normally, one Neptune would not sink a ship larger than 5,000 tons. But the missile apparently exploded either within or in close proximity to the Moskva ammunition storage hold. Seconday ammunition explosions doomed the ship. Russian sailors were evacuated from the Moskva by passing Turkish and Romanian ships. The captain of the Turkish vessel said the Moskva was on fire and listing badly.

Moskva was a Soviet "Slava class" heavy cruiser. 10 of these ships were supposed to be built, but only 3 were completed. Her sister ships are the Marshal Ustinov (In service with the Northern Fleet) and the Varyag (In service with the Pacific Fleet). All of these ships were built at the shipyards at Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The next Slava-class ship in succession was supposed to go to the Ukraine Navy and was named Ukraina. But she was only partially finished due to the breakup of the Soviet Union and this unfinished ship is still dockside at the 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In 2010 the Ukraine parliament stripped the unfinished ship of her name.

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Felis Leo said:

The thing I want to know is how many Russian sailors were rescued? On the main thread I saw someone mention only 54 crewmen made it off. If that is true, this must mark the largest loss of life the Russian military has suffered in a single day in decades.

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Rogue Valley said:

Moskva Warship's Sinking a $750 Million Loss for Russian Military

From Ukrainian sources off the record -- after darkness fell, Ukraine flew 3 Turkish TB-2 drones over the Black Sea to a position that would get the attention of the Moskva. The ship did detect these drones, but apparently the Moskva captain did not want to expend any cruise missiles on the Turkish drones. The Moskva then turned so she was the bow-on to the Turkist drones. This profile would be the best way to monitor the drones and if necessary bring her defensive weapons to bear on them. (the Moskva only had a 180° frontal defense system) This response was exactly what the Ukrainians wanted - because it exposed the entire port side of the Moskva to Odesa. As rain began to fall, 2 Ukraine Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were fired at the Moskva from a mobile shore battery in Odesa. The rain would have degraded the air and surface search radar on the Moskva. At 12 miles from the Moskva the Neptunes decended from flying 50' above the water to skimming just 3' above the water with a speed of 700 mph. At this time the Neptune radars would have locked on to the ship. The attack was also timed to coincide with the midnight shift change aboard the Moskva. In the video, there is initially blackness and a large moon. Then one can see many flickers of light. This would be the defensive guns on the Moskva trying to shoot down the Neptunes. Then we see a blinding flash. This is a Neptune striking Moskva. It is thought that perhaps the Russians managed to shoot down the 2nd Neptune over the water. The Neptune strikes a ship on the hull in a flat trajectory. Normally, one Neptune would not sink a ship larger than 5,000 tons. But the missile apparently exploded either within or in close proximity to the Moskva ammunition storage hold. Seconday ammunition explosions doomed the ship. Russian sailors were evacuated from the Moskva by passing Turkish and Romanian ships. The captain of the Turkish vessel said the Moskva was on fire and listing badly.

Moskva was a Soviet "Slava class" heavy cruiser. 10 of these ships were supposed to be built, but only 3 were completed. Her sister ships are the Marshal Ustinov (In service with the Northern Fleet) and the Varyag (In service with the Pacific Fleet). All of these ships were built at the shipyards at Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The next Slava-class ship in succession was supposed to go to the Ukraine Navy and was named Ukraina. But she was only partially finished due to the breakup of the Soviet Union and this unfinished ship is still dockside at the 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In 2010 the Ukraine parliament stripped the unfinished ship of her name.

Click to expand...

Rogue Valley said:

Moskva Warship's Sinking a $750 Million Loss for Russian Military

From Ukrainian sources off the record -- after darkness fell, Ukraine flew 3 Turkish TB-2 drones over the Black Sea to a position that would get the attention of the Moskva. The ship did detect these drones, but apparently the Moskva captain did not want to expend any cruise missiles on the Turkish drones. The Moskva then turned so she was the bow-on to the Turkist drones. This profile would be the best way to monitor the drones and if necessary bring her defensive weapons to bear on them. (the Moskva only had a 180° frontal defense system) This response was exactly what the Ukrainians wanted - because it exposed the entire port side of the Moskva to Odesa. As rain began to fall, 2 Ukraine Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were fired at the Moskva from a mobile shore battery in Odesa. The rain would have degraded the air and surface search radar on the Moskva. At 12 miles from the Moskva the Neptunes decended from flying 50' above the water to skimming just 3' above the water with a speed of 700 mph. At this time the Neptune radars would have locked on to the ship. The attack was also timed to coincide with the midnight shift change aboard the Moskva. In the video, there is initially blackness and a large moon. Then one can see many flickers of light. This would be the defensive guns on the Moskva trying to shoot down the Neptunes. Then we see a blinding flash. This is a Neptune striking Moskva. It is thought that perhaps the Russians managed to shoot down the 2nd Neptune over the water. The Neptune strikes a ship on the hull in a flat trajectory. Normally, one Neptune would not sink a ship larger than 5,000 tons. But the missile apparently exploded either within or in close proximity to the Moskva ammunition storage hold. Seconday ammunition explosions doomed the ship. Russian sailors were evacuated from the Moskva by passing Turkish and Romanian ships. The captain of the Turkish vessel said the Moskva was on fire and listing badly.

Moskva was a Soviet "Slava class" heavy cruiser. 10 of these ships were supposed to be built, but only 3 were completed. Her sister ships are the Marshal Ustinov (In service with the Northern Fleet) and the Varyag (In service with the Pacific Fleet). All of these ships were built at the shipyards at Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The next Slava-class ship in succession was supposed to go to the Ukraine Navy and was named Ukraina. But she was only partially finished due to the breakup of the Soviet Union and this unfinished ship is still dockside at the 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In 2010 the Ukraine parliament stripped the unfinished ship of her name.

Click to expand...

Rogue Valley said:

Moskva Warship's Sinking a $750 Million Loss for Russian Military

From Ukrainian sources off the record -- after darkness fell, Ukraine flew 3 Turkish TB-2 drones over the Black Sea to a position that would get the attention of the Moskva. The ship did detect these drones, but apparently the Moskva captain did not want to expend any cruise missiles on the Turkish drones. The Moskva then turned so she was the bow-on to the Turkist drones. This profile would be the best way to monitor the drones and if necessary bring her defensive weapons to bear on them. (the Moskva only had a 180° frontal defense system) This response was exactly what the Ukrainians wanted - because it exposed the entire port side of the Moskva to Odesa. As rain began to fall, 2 Ukraine Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were fired at the Moskva from a mobile shore battery in Odesa. The rain would have degraded the air and surface search radar on the Moskva. At 12 miles from the Moskva the Neptunes decended from flying 50' above the water to skimming just 3' above the water with a speed of 700 mph. At this time the Neptune radars would have locked on to the ship. The attack was also timed to coincide with the midnight shift change aboard the Moskva. In the video, there is initially blackness and a large moon. Then one can see many flickers of light. This would be the defensive guns on the Moskva trying to shoot down the Neptunes. Then we see a blinding flash. This is a Neptune striking Moskva. It is thought that perhaps the Russians managed to shoot down the 2nd Neptune over the water. The Neptune strikes a ship on the hull in a flat trajectory. Normally, one Neptune would not sink a ship larger than 5,000 tons. But the missile apparently exploded either within or in close proximity to the Moskva ammunition storage hold. Seconday ammunition explosions doomed the ship. Russian sailors were evacuated from the Moskva by passing Turkish and Romanian ships. The captain of the Turkish vessel said the Moskva was on fire and listing badly.

Moskva was a Soviet "Slava class" heavy cruiser. 10 of these ships were supposed to be built, but only 3 were completed. Her sister ships are the Marshal Ustinov (In service with the Northern Fleet) and the Varyag (In service with the Pacific Fleet). All of these ships were built at the shipyards at Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The next Slava-class ship in succession was supposed to go to the Ukraine Navy and was named Ukraina. But she was only partially finished due to the breakup of the Soviet Union and this unfinished ship is still dockside at the 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In 2010 the Ukraine parliament stripped the unfinished ship of her name.

Click to expand...