There are conflicting reports from the Russians and Ukrainians about an incident involving a Russian warship in the Black Sea.
No evidence has emerged to support either claim and DailyExpertNews cannot independently verify what happened.
What the Russians say: Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Wednesday that the warship Moskva had been evacuated after a fire aboard detonated munitions, which severely damaged the ship, Russian state media said.
What the Ukrainians say: Hours earlier, Odessa state regional administrator Maxim Marchenko claimed in a Telegram message that Ukrainian forces hit the ship with “Neptune” missiles, causing serious damage.
Bad weather: Due to major storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite images and sensory satellite data, DailyExpertNews has not been able to visually confirm that the ship was hit. The Russian Defense Ministry has also not posted an official statement on its Telegram channel acknowledging the evacuation or the fire on board.
Russian state media TASS and RIA reported that the ship’s crew had been evacuated and the cause of the fire had not yet been determined. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Moskva is a missile cruiser that was built and commissioned in 1982.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies showed the ship just northwest of Sevastopol in Crimea on April 10.
