More than half the crew of the cruise ship "Moskva" might have consisted of conscripts - the media

ROMAN PETRENKO —  WEDNESDAY, 4  MAY 2022, 14:39

Investigative journalists believe that two-thirds of the crew of the cruise ship "Moskva" might have consisted of conscripts.

Source: Investigators of "Agenstvo" with reference to sources

Details: Two sources - one of them is in constant contact with the parents of the missing sailors from the "Moskva", the other talked to officers of the Black Sea Fleet - claim that two-thirds of the ship's crew might have been conscripts.

The first source says there was an approximate number of 300 people, explaining that "bottle-washer" sailors were needed", and that all conscripts of the Russian Navy were divided among [different] ships."

An expert from the Russian Navy, Captain 1st Rank in Reserve, told the publication that the cruiser "always had and has conscripts", because "when we have to perform combat missions, we can’t quickly send the conscripts back to their mothers and replace them with contractors."

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has officially recognized the death of one person from "Moskva". Another 27 have been declared missing.

The "Agenstvo" has counted 13 sailors whose relatives reported their disappearance; the relatives of another sailor were told by the commanders that he had died. At least 10 of those 14, according to their parents, were conscripts. 

Background: 

• In the evening of 13 April, it was reported that the Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune" had struck the missile cruiser "Moskva", the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Following this, the cruiser with 16 cruise missiles was disabled and sank.
• "Radio Svoboda" has been able to talk to a relative of one of the Russian sailors on the deck of "Moskva", and she confirmed his death on the cruiser. The woman admitted to reporters that another 27 crew members had "disappeared".
• Russian media published allegedly "fresh" video meetings between the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, and the command of the Russian Black Sea Fleet with the "crew of the ‘Moskva’ missile cruiser", which had been hit and sunk by a Ukrainian missile.
• Naval expert  H I Sutton estimated from satellite images and Russian official video that half the crew of the Russian cruiser "Moskva" was dead or wounded.