cover image: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment - Mason Clark, Kateryna Stepanenko, and George Barros April 14, 7:15pm ET

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Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment - Mason Clark, Kateryna Stepanenko, and George Barros April 14, 7:15pm ET

15 Apr 2022

Ukrainian forces claimed to strike the Moskva with two Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles on April 13.i The Kremlin denied this claim and stated the Moskva suffered damage from an accidental fire and ammunition explosion.ii Initial Ukrainian claims to have sunk the warship on April 13 were likely false, but the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the Moskva sank in a storm while being towed to Cr. [...] The sinking of the Moskva, which was involved in the infamous “Snake Island” incident in the early days of the Russian invasion, is a boon to Ukrainian morale as a symbol of Ukrainian capabilities to strike back at the Russian navy. [...] The Kremlin will conversely struggle to explain away the loss of one of the most important vessels in the Russian fleet. [...] The Kremlin’s current story of losing the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet due to an accidental fire and ammunition explosion will, at minimum, likely hurt Russian morale and cannot be hidden from the Russian domestic audience. [...] We will continue to evaluate and report on the effects of these criminal activities on the Ukrainian military and population and specifically on combat in Ukrainian urban areas.

Authors

Jacob Taylor

Pages
11
Published in
United States of America