Russian Warship Moskva formerly Slava was a guided-missile cruiser of the Russian Navy. The ship was the lead ship of the Project 1164 Atlant class and was named after the city of Moscow.
It was the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and had helped lead the naval assault during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
With a crew of 510, she was the most powerful surface vessel in the region. Moskva had previously been deployed in several military conflicts, including in Georgia (2008), Crimea (2014), and Syria (2015).
Moskva was laid down in 1976, launched in 1979, and was commissioned on the 30th of January 1983.
Moskva was considered the pride of the Russian Navy owing duly to her vast size and sophisticated weapon embedded in it, the Warship has been pivotal to many Russian military successes in an air attacks, which had helped in the subjugations of states like Georgia, Crimea, and Syria.
The recent sinking of Moskva due to an alleged attack on it with two R-360 Neptun anti-ship cruise missiles by the Ukrainian forces was considered one of the greatest casualties and the largest warship to be sunk in combat since World War 2.
The Effect of Moskva’s loss to the Russian in their ongoing military operation in Ukraine
With the attack on Moskva taking place on April 13, it sank in the Black Sea on the 14th of April after an attempt was made to tow it to safety before it finally sank.
According to experts, the loss of Moskva would be proved fatal and decisive in the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine. In February 2022, Moskva left Sevastopol to participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moskva was the only warship in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet with long-range air defenses, it’s equipped with the S-300F missile system to provide area air defense. The presence of Moskva in the Black Sea was a thing of pride to the Russians as it has the longest air strike around the region.
While the large vessels had not fired a single missile at a land target in Ukraine, it provided anti-aircraft support to vessels that did with her S-300F missile system.
With the sinking of Moskva, remaining Russia’s vessels will be more vulnerable to attacks from the Ukrainians, which will have a great negative impact on their military operation.
The inability of Russia to look for a possible alternative to Moskva, the control of the Black Sea Fleet will be left open, while Moskva had two sister ships in the Eastern Mediterranean, it would be likely impossible for Russia to concentrate it around the water border of Ukraine through Turkey due to sanctions because of the war, this will impede Russia fast attack on the City of Ukraine.
Moskva is considered the pride of the Russian navy, and her presence in international water had proved to be a boaster to the Russian navy owing to its ability to fire more than 5,000 rounds in a minute, but with the recent occurrence on the Cruiser, the attacking prowess of the Russians on the Black Sea will be limited in Ukraine, it will be the largest Soviet or ex-Soviet ship to be sunk by enemy action since Marat in 1941, these events will lower the morale of the Russian fleets on the Black Sea as the gigantic Moskva seems nowhere to be available.
Moskva is also seen as the visible global power projection under President Putin, Moskva has proved useful in President Putin’s long run in office, and it has been used internationally both in Georgia, Angola, Cuba Syria, and Crimea.
It serves as a symbol of Russia’s re-emergence as a global power. The loss of Moskva is a blow to Russia’s military strength in the Black Sea, and even more significantly a blow to Russian morale and great power status.
Financially, the sinking of Moskva as Russia’s pride will cost Russia more than US$750 million to replace, with the looks of sanctions on Russia at present, fixing the Moskva will come at a great cost.
