Russia has claimed that more than 100 crew members of Russia’s biggest warship Moskva, including its captain, have survived after the ship sunk in the Black Sea.
They released an undated video, without sound, claiming to show the survivors after a days of speculation that 500 people had died amid a virtual news blackout.
As the camera pans around, a large group of uniformed officers and seamen can be seen at a parade in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, who were met by navy commander-in-chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.
Hailed as the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Moskva now rests at the bottom of the Black Sea after an explosion on board on Thursday.
It made headlines when a Ukrainian troop was filmed saying ‘go f*** yourself, Russian warship’ as its crew threatened to shell Snake Island before capturing the unit.
Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, said Ukraine struck the 12,500-ton Soviet-era vessel late on Wednesday with two Neptune missiles and caused ‘serious damage’.
Russia’s own version of events states that the reason for the sinking was a fire caused by exploding ammunition.
Forbes named Moskva’s demise as the most expensive Russian military loss in the war against Ukraine, with an estimated cost of £574 million.
It took the Kremlin a day to acknowledge that the guided missile cruiser had sunk but there was no mention of loss of life until now.
It is unclear when the meeting with Admiral Yevmenov took place but at the end of the video he said: ‘The crew of Moskva cruiser is at the main base, hero city of Sevastopol.
‘Officers, midshipmen and contract personnel will continue service in the navy.
‘Compulsory [military] service personnel, in line with the law, will be released from May to July, and will leave to be put on military register.’
An article on Russian state-owned news agency Tass stated all its 500-crew was evacuated after the incident, though Ukraine has claimed there were fatalities.
Captain Anton Kuprin was said to be among those killed but Metro.co.uk has not been able to verify this.
Defence and security analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News that while the loss of the Moskva does not rob the Russian navy of much capability, it is certainly a large blow to its prestige.
He wrote: ‘The cruiser had been acting as the control centre for the 30 or so vessels the Russians have got in the Black Sea.
‘Losing the Moskva flagship is a massive PR blow for the Kremlin – the Russians haven’t lost their flagship since the Russo-Japanese war of 1904.’
Mr Clarke believes that the sinking of the Moskva also means that any Russian attack on the crucial port city of Odesa will now be harder for Vladimir Putin’s forces to achieve.
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