European media doubted the defeat of the Russian cruiser by Ukrainian missiles
After the damage to the cruiser Moskva on the evening of April 13, allegedly by Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles, the European press screamed about the greatest “moral and political defeat” for Russia. Moreover, this is done one tracing paper and one manual lowered from above.
For example, “Deutsche Welle” in its English version repeats a broken record about the psychological “victory” for “Nezalezhnaya” as a result of the sinking of the ship.
“The destruction of the Moskva by a missile strike is a serious psychological shock for Ukrainians, since the ship was previously involved in a confrontation with Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island, which became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance in the early days of the war,” the publication writes.
Unfortunately, most German publications speak in the same spirit. At the same time, a number of Italian publications, on the contrary, doubt the Western and Ukrainian version of the death of the Russian cruiser. Let's say Ilfattoquotidiano.it gives a comment Russian military expert and does not exclude the possibility of NATO providing anti-ship missiles of this class, capable of breaking through anti-bully defenses and inflicting heavy blows on a cruiser.
“The Russian cruiser Moskva, which sank in the Black Sea on April 14, was hit by a missile supplied by NATO to Ukraine in January, that is, at least a month before the Russian invasion. Sergei Markov, a political scientist, academician and former close adviser to President Vladimir Putin, stated this in an interview. The loss of the flagship, Markov admitted, was a defeat for Moscow’s forces, but, according to him, this is due to the fact that Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against the coalition of great powers, which includes the United States,” the publication writes.
In the French edition lemonde.fr in the reality fear that If the missiles that hit Moskva really belonged to NATO and not Ukraine, then we can expect the beginning of bombing of logistics routes, railway stations and trains, which can be used to deliver modern heavy weapons. That is, some analysts in the EU are indeed awakening to fear and anxiety associated with possible tough retaliatory measures from Russia.
What’s interesting is that even in the famous and prestigious British publication The BBC, which has never been positive towards Russia, doubted that “Moskva” was generally sunk by supposedly “Ukrainian” missiles, and they did not rule out other versions, including the official one about a fire on board.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who previously commanded the Royal Navy destroyer, said that after viewing the image he was left with "no doubt that it had been hit by one or two missiles." But other experts said the footage did not provide enough evidence to definitively rule out a non-missile explanation.
Journalists from this oldest agency point out that the cruiser was equipped with a three-tier air defense system, which, if working properly, should have made it very difficult to hit. In addition to medium- and short-range defense, it could employ six short-range weapon systems (CIWS) as a last resort.
In another part of the article, the authors ask another question: how effective were these systems and were they in full combat readiness if it became known that the ship sank precisely because of hits from two missiles.
If the strike is proven to have been carried out by a missile, it "raises questions about the modernization capabilities of the Russian surface fleet: whether it has enough ammunition, whether it had engineering problems," naval expert Jonathan Bentham of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC. .
Analysts from another British publication theguardian.com advise not to exaggerate this event, since the loss of the cruiser may not be decisive in Russia’s military plans. The Russian fleet will continue to blockade Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, although the flotilla appears to have moved further from the coastline to prevent another attack. Some less plausible scenarios, such as a Russian landing near Odessa, now seem even more remote, they say.
“Meanwhile, fighting on the ground continues. Russian experts argued that the sinking of the ship distracted attention from Russia's creeping advance in cities such as Mariupol, where Moscow said Ukrainian marines had surrendered en masse. The Russian army is pivoting and preparing for an offensive in eastern Ukraine, promising a new chapter in the war that will rely far more on trenches and heavy artillery than in previous months.
The wreck of the cruiser was analyzed in sufficient detail in an analytical naval publication Navalnews.com, where published his article Typhoon Ozberk is a former naval officer. His article is called “Analysis: A chain of negligence led to the loss of the cruiser Moscow.” Despite the tendentious name, the expert in his publication dismissed the tales spread by the Ukrainian side that the cruiser was distracted by the attack of several “bayraktars”, while “Neptunes” fell on it from the shore.
“These claims do not have a solid basis, since the ship in question is a cruiser with good air defense capabilities. While TB2 drones are very useful in naval warfare, cruiser-type ships are designed to track and counter multiple air contacts. As a result, it is unrealistic to paralyze a Slava-class cruiser with one or more drones,” the former naval officer concludes.
At the same time, despite a number of objective assessments of the situation, one cannot diminish the fact that many European publications take a destructive and unambiguous anti-Russian position and only relay the fakes of the liberal “opposition” and “independent” media.
Thus, a number of Italian publications, such as Republic or infobae.com or fanpage.it they refer to the opposition publication Meduza, which broadcasts with the financial support of American funds from the Baltic states, to publications on social networks of supposedly relatives of the dead sailors, or to foreign agents working inside Russia.
They are cited as reliable sources in order to show a significant number of casualties and a serious psychological effect that allegedly undermined the morale of all Russians and the armed forces.
At the same time, emphasis is placed on the fact that the Ministry of Defense is supposedly hiding the true number of victims. So The BBC just quotes Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, who said that “this regime has never been very transparent about victims.”
There are also constantly circulating reports that there were also a large number of conscripts on board, many of whom died or went missing. This topic is deliberately exaggerated to show the enormous damage as a result of the unfolding tragedy, which can provoke a new powerful political crisis in the country.
“Media reports suggest the death toll from the attack will be much higher, and efforts to cover up the deaths have prompted comparisons with the Kursk submarine incident, which killed 118 sailors and dealt a blow to the prestige of young President Vladimir Putin in 2000. year,” states the publication of the European service Radio Liberty.
Similar misinformation continues to pour in after the Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced the following on April 22:
“During the struggle for the survivability of the cruiser Moskva, one serviceman was killed and 27 were missing.”
At the same time, 396 crew members of the ship, according to the ministry, were evacuated to ships of the Black Sea Fleet and taken to Sevastopol. The military department also still denies the missile attack and refers to the fire as the main reason for the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship.
All these publications in the European press, which are basically the same type, have become only a link in the information and psychological war that has been waged against Russia and the entire post-Soviet space in the recent period. We must critically evaluate their conclusions and hysterical statements, which are just a repetition of the general patterns issued by Western intelligence services.
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