Sailors who survived the Moskva sinking are to be sent back to war in Ukraine, but their parents are against it

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - TUESDAY, 21 JUNE 2022, 10:55

Parents of Russian conscripts who survived the sinking of the Moskva cruiser are saying that [the Russian authorities – ed.] want their sons to be sent back to the war against Ukraine.

Source: Novaya Gazeta.Europe quoting the parents' appeal

Details: The parents have appealed for the sailors not to be sent to the war zone.

In their letter to the military prosecutor's office in Sevastopol, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers and the human rights ombudsman, the signatories said that the conscripts had still not been moved back to dry land, contrary to promises.

According to their parents, they [the sailors – ed.] are currently being kept on the patrol ship Ladniy, which was commissioned in 1981. The sailors' families claim that the ship is in need of repairs and is not very seaworthy.

According to some information from Russian servicemen, the Ladniy is supposed to put to sea on 30 June to take part in combat operations.

The letter says that there are now 49 conscripts from the Moskva on the ship [the Ladniy – ed.]. Many of them do not want to take part in the war again.

Quote: "Our children, enlisted conscripts, have already been wrongfully involved in the SMO (special military operation, as the Putin regime calls the war - ed.) on the Moskva cruiser and have suffered combat-related mental trauma as a result of the disaster that has occurred. We consider it unacceptable to reintroduce those who have survived a psychologically traumatic situation to combat operations."

Reminder: In Russia, the parents of sailors from the sunken Moskva cruiser were asked to voluntarily acknowledge their sons as being "dead as a result of a disaster", without identifying them as having been involved in combat operations.

Background:

• On 13 April, it became known that Ukraine had struck the Russian cruiser Moskva with Neptun missiles.
• On 14 April, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the explosion on the cruiser, but said ammunition on board had detonated, the sailors had been evacuated and the cruiser itself had "stayed afloat". The Russian ministry then said the Moskva sank while being towed to Sevastopol amid a storm.
• Experts speculated that half of the crew had been killed or injured. Investigative journalists believed that the crew of the Moskva could have been made up of two-thirds conscripts.
• When relatives of the Moskva sailors searched for them, they were told that the cruiser was not on a combat mission and that the soldiers were missing. However, the survivors said that the cruiser was on its way to Odesa with an assault landing party.
• On 15 May, Pivden [South] Operational Command published the final communications with the Moskva.