Ukraine claims it sank Russian warship in Black Sea

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that "there was an explosion" on the Russian ship.
Russian ship in the Black Sea.
By Madeleine Hubbard

Ukraine claims that it has sunk one of Russia's most important warships with a missile in the Black Sea.

Tass, a Russian-state run outlet, reported on Thursday that the Russian Ministry of Defense said the missile cruiser "Moskva" sank in a storm while being towed to shore following damage from an ammunition fire.

Ukraine's military claims that the ship began to sink after it was struck by Ukranian Neptune anti-ship missiles, CNN reported.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said "there was an explosion" on the Russian ship, but the United States cannot verify if it was because of a missile.

"We're not quite exactly sure what happened here. We do assess that there was an explosion, at least one explosion on this cruiser. A fairly major one at that, that has caused extensive damage to the ship," Kirby told CNN.

The Moskva has a crew of almost 500 people and is more than 600 feet long. It originally entered into service for the Soviet Navy in the 1980s.

The vessel is equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, among other technology, making the vessel's loss a serious blow to the Russian military.