photos appear to show Russian cruiser Moskva shortly before it sank
Images and video, which have not been independently confirmed, show plume of black smoke rising from heavily-damaged vessel.
THE GUARDIAN: Photos and a video have emerged purporting to show the Russian cruiser Moskva shortly before the ship sank in the Black Sea.
In the images, which have not been independently confirmed, a plume of black smoke is seen rising from the heavily damaged Moskva, which was reported to have been hit by a Ukrainian missile strike last week.
A three-second video filmed from a nearby ship appears to show a rescue tug approaching the burning Moskva. The short recording ends abruptly as a man nearby yells: “What the fuck are you doing?”
Images and video, which have not been independently confirmed, show plume of black smoke rising from heavily-damaged vessel
Several military analysts consulted by the Guardian said the images looked consistent with the Moskva but that the photographs would require independent confirmation. The source of the photos and the video is unknown and it was first brought to public attention by Osint researchers following the Russian war in Ukraine.
“I believe the video is real. What we see shape, size. It is the Moskva,” Yörük Işık, a journalist and expert ship spotter who photographs Russian warships traveling through the Bosphorus , told the Guardian.
He said he believed at least one of the photographs was taken from a Project 22870 rescue tugship, of which Russia is believed to have two in the Black Sea. The Moskva was being towed toward the Sevastopol port when it sank, the Russian defence ministry has said. “These tugs are always around whatever the other warships are engaged,” he said in a message.
