On RKR Moskva, Again.

She did sink (in Russian) during towing due to serious hull breach and stormy conditions. This now opens a long procedure into the investigation of causes and the count, hopefully low, of losses. It remains to be seen what happened to the ship and it will take some time to learn the cause but two outcomes (and causes) are possible:

1. Internal sabotage. It is a working hypothesis for now.

2. Some form of external "impact" (I doubt these were Ukie missiles), if it has Western origin, ramifications will be extremely serious. 

But it is too early to speculate. As with Kursk the media bacchanalia will continue. It will change absolutely nothing in the outcome of the SMO but if any Western power is involved, there will be retaliation. It is not the first time the Black Sea Fleet loses a capital ship, enough to recall the mystery with battleship Novorossiysk  (ex-Giulio Cesare) which still hasn't been completely solved. 

All I can say is that I knew her as Slava in 1981 when she was afloat in the Northern Bay of Sevastopol and my class which was at first summer practice on board of old cruiser Dzerzhinsky was given an extensive introduction to her. So, she was an old lady and it is too bad that she had to finish her long life this way and at this time. 

In the end, Sevastopol still remembers what happened when Otvazhnyi (Project 61 Large ASW ship) had her AD missiles stores detonating in 1974. Now recriminations (and acrimony) start and it will take some effort to squeeze facts from the thick jelly of media BS and conspiracy theory.

The Key Phrase (or About RKR Moskva Again).

The key phrase in this whole RKR Moskva affair, with her being "sunk" or "being hit by missiles" are Russian MoD's words about "the cause of the fire is under investigation". Usually, when you are hit by missiles you don't investigate--it is self evident what happened. As was expected, Ukies immediately tried to "insert" their version of the fire and explosion on board of Moskva, which turned out, surprise-surprise, a full BS.  But then again, remember--VSU is about to crush Russian Forces in 404 and be on their way to Moscow. 

Several Ukrainian officials had earlier boasted that a battery of their Neptune anti-ship missiles hidden in the area near the port town of Odessa had successfully struck the Moskva twice, setting it ablaze. However, they provided no proof to their claims, with the images of the burning vessel distributed on social media turning out to be fake. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said earlier that the fire aboard the Moskva had been likely caused by an ammunition explosion. The cruiser had suffered “serious damage,” while its crew was safely evacuated to other ships in the area. The Pentagon commented on the incident on Thursday evening, saying that there was “at least one” explosion on the Russian cruiser that was a “fairly major one” and “caused extensive damage.” The US military believe the ship is now heading to the Crimean port of Sevastopol for repairs, the Pentagon’s press secretary, John Kirby told CNN's Brianna Keilar. Ukraine had already claimed last month to have sunk the Russian patrol boat Vasily Bykov, only for the vessek to show up in Sevastopol unharmed a few days later.

Looks like it is not even being towed but Moskva is on the way under her own power, at least that is what Kirby (it seems) stated himself (in Russian). So, anyone who has the time to listen to his briefing, please check if this is true. 

In any case, Moskva is certainly not sunk, she is functional and will be repaired, at least this is the word for now. In fact, something tells me, that now she may go into the modernization and even a deeper one than Marshal Ustinov. Just to make the point. I cannot give the guarantee, obviously, but something tells me that this could be one of the options. This Moskva issue is a great demonstration of a massive fraud which all kinds of telegram-channels and military "experts" offer as "analysis" and "news" rushing to promote themselves as valid news outlets, while selling fake sensations. I am not talking about Ukie or Western propaganda--one would expect them to lie. No, I am talking about a truck-load of those alleged "pro-Russian" outlets who spread BS purely to make a buck. 

Per versions on why the fire started: recall Bonhomme Richard? Just saying. Military counter-intel organs cannot be 100% proof and under present conditions of SMO the issue of sabotage cannot be excluded, period. Especially after devastating news for Kiev with yet another more than VSU 300 marines surrendering today to Russian Forces and the pool of POWs from Ukrainian side constituting now more than 3,000 POWs. The reduction of the Donbass cauldron, some sources close to SMO project, may bring 30,000 VSU POWs and that is a completely different "logistics" in humanitarian and security terms. As I already stated, the most in demand profession in LDNR right now are prison security guards, to handle thousands VSU POWs. This in itself could be a very serious motivation for someone who may have sympathies to regime in Kiev, which may not have been promptly detected. Inside work is totally possible. We'll see anyway. 

BTW, pay attention to those Vikhrs on Ka-52s, those are PGMs.

About RKR Moskva.

The rumors are swirling about RKR Moskva hit by allegedly (emphasis on allegedly) Ukie Neptun anti-shipping missiles. The only thing which is known at this stage is that Russia's MoD confirmed fire and detonation of the ammo, which, in this case means only the cellar with 130-mm shells for the nose dual gun AK-130. As any ammo cellar Moskva's is "wrapped" in armored shell. Project 1164 standard 16 anti-shipping missiles Vulkan are stored in separate armored containers located in groups of 2 x 4 on each side of the ship and they cannot "detonate" that easily. Nor can detonate with catastrophic consequences S-300 Fort AD missiles which are also stored in revolver type containers. 

Understandably 404 side immediately tried to assign the "credit" to itself and its Neptun missiles, which are nothing more than subsonic iteration of venerable Russian X-35 Uran. It is too early to speculate what went wrong, but something did go wrong and the first question is where was the sprinkler system (systema oroshenia pogrebov). We don't know. The ship is more than 40 years old, after all, and unlike sistership Marshal Ustinov didn't undergo modernization. If one throws away the hypothesis of Ukie missiles, the only thing which comes to mind is either internal sabotage or even a possibility of a diversion from the outside by combat divers. I would suggests at this stage not to believe all kinds telegram-channels, especially ukie and Russian "experts", but wait for official announcement of Russian MoD. Do not forget, this event will be amplified and multiplied by Western propaganda, but it also may open floodgates for other events, especially if it will be established that foreign powers have been involved. This event may have some propaganda value but it doesn't change the outcome and the objectives of the SMO. Physical location of the ship at the moment of the event will be telling a lot.