Navy Commander: Ukraine first country to destroy missile cruiser in wartime

This was stated by the Commander of Ukraine’s Naval Forces, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, who spoke in an interview with the Radio Liberty project, Crimea.Realities, Ukrinform reports.

According to the commander, Russia’s Moskva cruiser, the Black Sea flagship at the time, was engaged in isolating the combat area, and also commanded other ships that were deployed from Snake Island to Cape Tarkhankut.

"As they believed, it was to prevent NATO warships from entering the combat area, as far as I understand it. Or so that we could not pull any of our ships or boats from this area," the Navy Commander explained.

The Ukrainian operation against the cruiser, Neizhpapa believes, sent an important signal for the Russian fleet.

“We understood that if we pull this off, the enemy will understand that they will no longer be able to approach our coast at such a range, while we will be able to drive them away from Odesa,” he added.

As reported, on April 13, 2022, Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the $750 million missile cruiser Moskva. On April 14, the warship sank. The Russian Ministry of Defense publicly acknowledged only five deaths on the Moskva.

According to the then Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, at the time of the strike, 510 crew members were on board the missile cruiser, of whom 58 survived the Ukrainian attack.