The russian ministry of defense said that the Moskva cruiser sank in the Black sea while being towed. Informed TASS news agency.
“The missile cruiser Moskva sank as it was towed back in stormy weather,” TASS said.
Earlier, with a reference to the defense ministry of the rf, russian mass media informed that Moskva sank after the SOS signal. They said that there was a fire at the flagship cruiser of the Black Sea fleet. During the fire, ammunition cooked off and exploded. The crew was evacuated.
The cruiser Moskva was 25-30 miles from Zmiinyi (Snake) island not far from Odesa. There is an investigation of the reasons of the fire, but the main line of enquiry is a missile strike.
Later the operative command Pivden confirmed that the cruiser Moskva, shot down with the Ukrainian missile Neptun, got in fire and sank.