Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate: Russians took bodies and secret equipment away from the Moskva cruiser
Russian servicemen took the bodies of the dead and secret equipment from the sunken cruiser Moskva.
Source: Representative of the Main Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate of the the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadym Skibitskii in an interview with Crimea.Realities
Details: Skibitskii confirmed the information of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that the Moskva cruiser sank when it was towed to Sevastopol.
According to him, Russia carried out the rescue operation on the sunken Moskva cruiser. Skibitskii claims that it lasted at least two weeks.
Quote from Skibitskii: "From 5 to 7 ships were involved. Most of them were rescue ships, boats, [and] tug boats, which retrieved the bodies, removed all the equipment that was classified, and cleaned up this cruiser - retrieved what was left there, and what should not fall into the hands of a third country."
Details: The Russian servicemen had not announced the rescue operation on the sunken Moskva cruiser to the public.
The mothers of the two sailor-conscripts told Novaia Gazeta. Evropa [New Gazette. Europe] that they had been told about the rescue operation, but they doubted the veracity of those words, believing that the command was simply taking up time.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the crew, which has a staff of more than 500 people, was evacuated.
Until 22 April, Russian authorities did not disclose information about the dead from the Moskva cruiser. Relatives of sailors began to report them missing on social media.
Russia's Defense Ministry has acknowledged there was only one casualty on Moskva - a senior midshipman Ivan Vakhrushev (he was buried in Sevastopol). The Russian Defense Ministry claims that 27 sailors went missing and 396 were evacuated.
According to a previous estimate by the Ukrainian side, Russia managed to rescue 58 people from 510 crew members of the sunken Russian cruiser Moskva.
The Moskva cruiser took part in the operation near Snake Island, and it was this ship that originated the meme: "Russian warship, go f*** yourself."
Background:
- On 13 April, Ukrainian authorities announced that they had struck the Russian cruiser Moskwa with Neptune missiles.
- On 14 April, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the explosion on the cruiser, but said that ammunition detonated on board, sailors were evacuated, and the cruiser itself "kept afloat." Then the Russian Ministry said that Moskva sank while being towed to Sevastopol in a storm.
- Experts estimated that half of the crew had died or were injured. Investigative journalists believed that two-thirds of the crew of the cruise ship "Moskva" might have consisted of conscripts.
- Relatives of Moskva sailors were looking for them, and received the answer that the cruiser was not performing a combat mission and the fighters were missing. At the same time, the survivors said that the cruiser was going with the paratroopers to Odesa. In the end, the sailors' parents were asked to voluntarily declare their sons "dead as a result of a disaster."
- On 15 May, the Pivden (South) Operational Command published the final communication from the Moskva cruiser.
