Russia's 'broken arrow': Fears that nuclear missiles sank with Putin's flagship Moskva amid claims that HUNDREDS of the 510 crew have drowned after being 'hit by Ukrainian missile'

- Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, has been confirmed to have sunk near port of Sevastopol
- Experts and analysts are now warning that the warship may have been carrying two nuclear warheads
- They are calling for an urgent probe into 'broken arrow' incident - military slang for an accident with nukes
- Meanwhile questions remain over the fate of Moskva's 510-strong crew, most of whom are unaccounted for

Russia's Black Sea flagship which sank yesterday after an explosion on board may have been carrying nuclear warheads, analysts and experts have warned today, as they called for an emergency investigation into the threat.

The Moskva, a Soviet-era guided missile cruiser, sank near the port of Sevastopol on Thursday after Ukraine said it hit the ship with two cruise missiles, causing it to roll over. Russia has admitted the vessel sank after a fire and explosion on board, but has not said what caused the blaze.

There are now fears that the Moskva could have taken two nuclear warheads into the depths in what could turn into a 'broken arrow' incident - American military slang for an accident involving nuclear weapons.

Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned today that the Moskva was designed to carry warheads which could be fitting into the nose of its supersonic P-1000 missiles - designed to take out American aircraft carriers.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads - two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations - Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria - to insist on an explanation. Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.

Meanwhile Defence Express said that it had 'interviewed experts, including designers and naval officers, who unanimously and independently gave the following answer - there is a real possibility that the affected flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet could have had nuclear munitions on board.

The paper added: 'Are nuclear munitions always on board, or are they loaded only by special order?'

Speculation about a nuclear disaster swirled as questions also remained over the Moskva's 510-strong crew, who have been largely unaccounted for since the ship was struck amid the expectation that hundreds will have died in the on-board explosion.

So-far, only around 50 of the crew are accounted for - having been picked up by a Turkish vessel - with another 14 reportedly flown to the port of Sevastopol, leaving around 450 whose fates are unknown. Russia claims to have evacuated the entire crew, but video taken in Sevastopol overnight shows dozens of cars purportedly belonging to the sailors still parked in the port - suggesting their owners had not returned to collect them.

Explosions on comparably-sized ships often produce hundreds of deaths. When the General Belgrano - an Argentinian warship - was struck by two British torpedoes during the Falklands War, the resulting blast killed a total of 334 people. The Belgrano was smaller than the Moskva, and its ammunition did not explode.

The Moskva got into trouble overnight Wednesday as it sailed around 60 miles off the coast of Odesa, Ukraine's largest port and main naval base. The Ukrainian military said it was struck with two Neptune cruise missiles fired by a coastal battery, which struck the port side of the vessel.

Russian military sources said the ship had rolled on to its side and caught fire after the blast, while US intelligence sources said the vessel suffered a 'large' explosion that left it heavily damaged before it sank.

Moscow has said only that the vessel suffered a fire and blast before its navy attempted to tow the ship back to Sevastopol, but during the operation it sank in rough seas. The exact location of the wreck is unknown.

The loss of the Moskva - the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet and the vessel that was told to 'go f*** yourself' by Ukrainian troops as it demanded their surrender on Snake Island - is a huge propaganda win for Kyiv as well as another embarrassing loss for Putin's beleaguered armed forces.

Moskva's sinking also has practical implications for Russia. As flagship, the vessel was likely tasked with coordinating the movements of other ships in the Black Sea which may cause further confusion among Russia's already-strained command structure.

Its role was also to provide cover for Russia's other ships using its anti-air missiles while they launched cruise missiles attacks against cities and military sites. Its loss will make them more-vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes, including by fast jets or drones.

Earlier, a United States defence official said that Russia had moved its other vessels 80 miles away from the Ukrainian shore - a suspected attempt to get out of missile range - after the ship was damaged.

Questions will inevitably be asked inside the Kremlin over how one of its capital ships was destroyed by a country with no operational navy. Since the war broke out, Russia's naval forces have been positioned off the coast of Ukraine to provide support to its ground troops, and to block off Kyiv's access to the coast.

H I Sutton, a respected naval analyst, points out that the vessel has spent the last two months sailing in a 'predictable' pattern around the Black Sea - generally sitting in waters close to Snake Island.

Sutton also points out that the ship's defences were 'dated'. It was initially built in 1983 by the Soviet Union, and underwent a major refit and recommissioning in 2000. But updates since then have been piecemeal with a major refit in 2015 cancelled - potentially leaving it vulnerable to modern weaponry.

On Thursday night, Western officials said Ukrainian reports of the operation were ‘credible’ and the attack demonstrated their ability to strike the Russians in areas where they assumed they were invulnerable.

One said: ‘The incident represents another enormous loss in terms of Russian credibility. They’ve been shown again to be vulnerable to attack. This is a question of competence. This is supposed to be a military which has modernised itself over the last decade.

Read the rest here - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10721351/Ukraine-war-Fears-Moskva-warship-carrying-nuclear-weapons-sank.html

AllKnowing:
Hundreds of Sailors dead really? Or did you forget that particular ship was being hulled back to Moscow after the fire onboard destroyed its hull?

I see a lot of topics here that are deliberately sensational to drive traffic to Nairaland.

SeeThisLoser:



About 50 sailors were rescued.

The initial missile hit took out most of the sailors.

Do your research and stop crying more than the bereaved.

Wannabenz:
Lies. No one died and we all know it wasn't Ukraine missile that hit the ship. All crew members were evacuated and ship sunk when it was being towed back to the port. Go and read the news elsewhere abeg.

joyandfaith:
This is serious. War is something we need to avoid.

VictorUSA:
Putin wants to escalate this war but sadly he'll lose by a whole hell of alot.

baralatie:
Shebi you were celebrating the hit on the ship!
Wait They are now hitting the source of the ballistic strike
Your guess is as good as mine

Kyiv

VictorUSA:
Putin is just a toothless bulldog that sells cake no child will buy.

baralatie:

Meanwhile zelensky was dishing war spaghetti and refugee hot beans for ukrainians to eat morning, afternoon and night without question

Kingsteve:


Zombie spotted!

It is well.

VictorUSA:
Wrong! Putin is the one dishing out war spagetti and refugee hot beans to Ukrainians.

baralatie:

Oh!
It is now Putin dishing it hot
Zelensky must Bea comedian

VictorUSA:
Zelensky is only trying to defend his country and his people.

baralatie:

Zelensky only allowed his country Ukraine to be alab rat of war between the US and Russia!
Very silly,idiotic, raunchy and a grave miscalculation of zelensky

VictorUSA:
SMH! How should he have stopped the war?

baralatie:

Why did Ukraine tear up Minsk 2

VictorUSA:
How did they tear up minsk 2? Putin himself declared that minsk 2 is not valid before his attacked Ukraine.

VictorUSA:
baralatie, how can you take away someone's property;stop him from joining a certain group of people and expect peace?

baralatie:

Can .the USA allow Cuba to install defensive weapons to deter it from attack mainland Russia

Wannabenz:

Olodo. Even CNN didn't report any death casualty...all this sites reported the crew members were evacuated and mind you the ship sunked the next day when it was being towed back to the port.

Then how can it be from Ukrainian missile and there's no casualty. The ammunitions on the ship detonated and that's the real story behind it.

VictorUSA:
Aside this ,why would Russia annex Crimea? why would putin recognize other regions in Ukraine as independent? Who gave him the audacity?