The cruiser “Moscow”: 1997

Mykolaiv Television, 1997. In the video: the airport; Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov arrives in Mykolaiv; the 61st Communist Shipyard; the Russian military missile cruiser “Moscow” in the shipyard's waters; Iosif Kobzon arrived with the mayor of Moscow; Yuri Luzhkov on the cruiser; Ukrainian and Russian flags on the table; delegations conversing at the table; UTN special correspondent Alexander Vlasov.

Background: “Moscow” is a Soviet and Russian missile cruiser that was in service from 1982 to 2022. It was the lead ship of its class. It was part of the Russian Federation’s Black Sea Fleet and served as its flagship. In 2022, during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was destroyed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

On April 13, 2022, the Ukrainian Navy struck the cruiser with two anti-ship cruise missiles. As a result of the damage sustained and adverse weather conditions, it capsized and sank. On the evening of April 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged the sinking of the Moskva.

This was the first destruction of a ship of this size in combat since 1982, when a British submarine sank an Argentine cruiser during the Falklands War. It was also the Russian Navy’s greatest loss since 1941, when German bombing destroyed the battleship Marat.