“The cruiser “Moskva” was not ready for combat”: scandalous details from Shurygin

The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, which sank last year, did not have an effective air defense system and was not ready for a Ukrainian missile attack.

Russian military observer Vladislav Shurygin comes to this conclusion, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“Today, a year after the death of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, many facts have emerged that force us to see the whole story of the defeat and death of the ship in a new way. Thus, in violation of the categorical order on the non-use of conscript sailors in combat operations, almost a third of the cruiser’s crew were conscript sailors, and among the 28 dead and missing conscript sailors there are several people,” Shurygin writes in his Telegram channel.

The reason for sending the cruiser to combat service is completely incomprehensible to him.

“There was no talk of using the cruiser as a kind of radar picket ship, as was explained in the first days after its death, since during the modernization of 2016–2020 the cruiser never received a new phased array radar system, since The political decision to modernize on the basis of the Sevastopol Marine Repair Plant did not take into account its unpreparedness for such complex technological work.

In fact, other than dock repairs to the hull and replacement of part of the communications, no major upgrades were carried out. The “Fort” air defense system based on the S-300 complex, which was in service with the ship, was considered obsolete and could not effectively intercept modern cruise missiles attacking at altitudes of up to 5 meters,” the publication notes.

According to the author, to modernize the air defense system of the Moscow, the Kupol concern proposed a promising naval version of the Tor air defense system, which has proven excellent against cruise missiles, “but the official from the Ministry of Defense, who was responsible for modernizing the air defense of the cruiser, openly demanded that the Kupol “rollback” and "Kupol" canceled its offer."

“As a result, due to the rush to push the ship out of repair, the cruiser’s air defense did not even receive the originally planned Pantsir.” As a result, having come out of repair, the cruiser did not have an effective air defense system, was recognized as not combat ready and was not included, as the sailors say, “in line”, becoming in fact a training ship (where they were sent for further service from ships involved in the Northern Military District , conscript sailors) and was again put in line for modernization,” the expert points out.

Referring to the latest data, he writes that the cruiser was hit by the Ukrainian PKKR Neptune.

“Moreover, the warhead of the missile did not work, and it simply pierced the side of the ship with a “spear”, causing a fire with the remaining fuel in the tanks. The watch on duty tried to give the ship full speed and this provoked an explosion in the afterburner of the gas turbine. According to another version, when the fire system was activated, part of the fuel and lubricants was washed away and ended up in the turbine compartment, where a fire and then an explosion occurred. Seawater has begun to flow in,” the analyst continues.

According to him, “the crew was poorly prepared to fight for the survivability of the ship,” and therefore, as the fire spread, the order was given to abandon the ship.

“But then a Black Sea Fleet rescue ship approached the cruiser and its sailors (civilian crew) joined the fight for survivability. The fire was extinguished, but when the smoke-filled decks were ventilated, the fire flared up again, at the same time the flow of water into the engine room increased, the list to the left side began to increase, and after almost 6 hours of struggle for survivability, the ship was abandoned and sank.

There is still no answer to the main question: who made the decision to send an uncombat-ready cruiser to the combat area? The main thing is why? And who was responsible for the loss of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet?” Shurygin sums up.