Heavily damaged, slightly listing and covered in smoke – a photo circulating on the Internet is said to show the “Moskva” that sank on Thursday.
Four days after the sinking of the “Moskva”, a photo is circulating on the Internet that is said to show the Russian cruiser shortly before sinking in the Black Sea. The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was hit by two Neptun missiles on Thursday and later sank, according to Ukrainian reports. According to the Russian account, there was an accident on board in which ammunition exploded. The ship is said to have subsequently sunk in a storm.
The photo, which experts believe is authentic but has yet to be definitively confirmed, shows a badly damaged ship burning in the sea. The front area of the ship is completely shrouded in smoke, the launch pads for the P-1000 missiles, with which other ships can be attacked, can be seen dimly.
“Moskva”: ship designer analyzes prominent parts of the recording
Rachel Pawling, ship designer and lecturer at University College London, tweeted several key points about the shot. In the middle of the ship, just above the waterline, there is considerable damage to the hull, which can be attributed to a missile hit or a subsequent fire inside the ship. It is quite possible that part of the crew was saved, since there are no longer any dinghies on the ship.
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According to Pawling, however, it is striking that the two fire control radar systems SA-N-4 and SA-N-6, which are used to guide anti-aircraft missiles and guided missiles, were apparently not extended at the time the picture was taken. “It is unlikely that they were stowed after a hit,” writes Pawling. This would lend credibility to Ukraine’s story that a drone distracted the crew. Since this is an easy target for the cannons, they probably initially wanted to wait and see what the drone would do – although this was only a diversionary maneuver for the two Neptun rockets.
Whether a rocket hit or an accident led to the fire on the ship cannot be said with certainty based on one picture: The damage to the hull could also have come from an internal explosion, emphasizes Pawling. However, the Kremlin’s statement that the “Moskva” – if the photo is really about the ship – sank in a storm should be questionable, because the photo was taken in calm seas.
Source: Stern
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