The Dispatch: Russia Decides to Blame NATO for Sinking the Moskva

Late last Wednesday night or early Thursday morning,  two Ukrainian R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles struck the Moskva, an Atlant-class cruiser that was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The ship eventually sank because of the damage. There are still numerous conflicting reports about exactly what happened: whether Ukraine distracted the Moskva with drones before attacking it with missiles, questions about how many of the crew died and the circumstances of the final sinking, etc. What is crystal clear is that the Moskva is at the bottom of the Black Sea, that the Ukrainians put it there, and therefore that Russia has suffered an embarrassing naval defeat against a country that, in effect, no longer has a fleet. The reaction of some Russian propagandists to the sinking also provides an interesting example of how they are increasingly blaming Russia’s military failures on NATO, rather than on Ukrainian resistance.

The significance of the sinking of the Moskva to the current fighting is mostly on the symbolism/morale front. The main armament of the Moskva were anti-ship missiles, which are not relevant while the Ukrainian navy is out of action. (The Ukrainian navy has lost at least one ship out on patrol, and the Ukrainian naval base at Odesa has probably been struck multiple times and destroyed their capabilities further. The Ukrainian ships that remain lack the weaponry to take on the Russian fleet.) The loss of the anti-aircraft/anti-missile capabilities of the Moskva might be a technical blow to the Russian Black Sea fleet (it carried an S-300 AA system), but its significance is unclear. (Any air defense systems it had were obviously not sufficient to defend the ship itself, or perhaps they were switched off.) According to retired Ukrainian naval Capt. Andrii Ryzhenko, the Russian Black Sea fleet has three main tasks: 1) blockade Ukrainian ports, 2) neutralize the Ukrainian navy, and 3) conduct a landing operation if needed. The Moskva is not needed to blockade Ukrainian ports, the Ukrainian fleet is unfortunately already ineffective as its remaining ships have inadequate armament to pose a serious threat to Russian ships, and a naval landing near Odesa would make sense only as part of the three-pronged attack from the Russian base in Transnistria (a Russian proxy enclave in Moldova), Mykolaiv, and the sea, something which does not appear to be in the cards as the Ukrainians have turned back the Russian assault on Mykolaiv.

The main thing the Russians lost was not any specific capability but their flagship, one that had already become internationally emblematic early in the war. On February 24, the first day of Putin’s expanded war, it was the Moskva that demanded the surrender of the Ukrainians defending Zmiinyi Island (aka Snake island). A Ukrainian defender delivered the memorable reply “Russian warship, go f— yourself.” The Moskva then opened fire with its twin 130mm deck guns and, with the help of at least one other Russian warship, forced the Ukrainian defenders to surrender. The incident became a famous symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Last week the Ukrainian postal service even issued a stamp depicting one of the Ukrainian defenders on Snake Island giving the Moskva the finger.

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

9 Comments

  1. American Yeoman April 20, 2022 at 11:47

    Dangerous rhetoric certainly. I would simply reply, “Well, now wait, last week you said it was an ammunition explosion on board that sunk it with no mention of missiles. Next week will it be Greenpeace Activists riding on Gay Rainbow Dolphins that sunk your ship?”

    They lie and lie and lie- it’s what they do and have always done. Say what you will about our country and how shitty it is, problems we have, but we generally own up to our dirty laundry, publicly. Maybe not immediately but the truth usually comes out in a very public way.

    Syphilis trials on black Americans- Hearings and compensation paid. My Lai Massacre- Congressional Hearings of Record. Internment of Nisei Japanese during WWII- Congressional Hearings, compensation paid. Iran- Contra- Televised Hearings held. USS Fitzgerald and John McCain Collisions- Congressional Hearings. VA Deaths due to Treatment Delays- Congressional Hearings. You pick the topic and SOMEONE is yelling about it here….The information is widely made part of the public discourse.

    You can say, “Well, but nothing ever happens”…A valid criticism, but at least the American people get to KNOW that there is an issue- if they pay attention. The Russians never tell their citizens a damn thing and admit even less to the broader world. “Oh gee, we have no idea why radiation meters in all of Western Europe are pegged out but we know our reactor at Chernobyl isn’t possibly the problem”….

    • boss21 April 20, 2022 at 16:23

      Russian MOD has said nothing official yet other than the ship sunk.They might be focused on something else at the moment. All these straw man ‘theories’ are internet generated. Let me know when Israel pays (in blood) for the USS Liberty, or the truth about TWA 800 is admitted. There are many other examples. Fake Tonkin incident – 58,000 dead. Governments only come clean when they can’t hide something. Another propaganda article criticizing propaganda.

      • NC Scout April 20, 2022 at 16:35

        Russia just successfully tested an ICBM also.

        Westerners keep making assumptions. They (policy makers and commentators) assume the Russian invasion was to take over Ukraine. They assume Russia has no plan or that they’re somehow on their heels. They assumed their economy would fold under sanctions also.

        Those same policy makers have failed at every turn. And somehow, neocons still keep thinking there’s some kinda advantage that’s being had here. Its denial. Sober the fuck up.

        We shot our wad arming proxies in a place that we never should have been. We can’t recoup what we supplied them with and rotted our manufacturing. Europe is a complete cesspool under mass immigration policies. Scandinavia under NATO is a joke. And meanwhile there’s not even lip service to what to do about belt and road and American waning influence in central and south america.

        DC is outmatched and outplayed. Period.

    • American Yeoman April 20, 2022 at 14:25

      I like how they say the Ukrainian Neptune is based on the Russian KH 35…..Which, is known as….the “Harpoonski”- Look it up- because the Red Bastards basically copied the American Harpoon.

      • NC Scout April 20, 2022 at 16:41

        This matters exactly how?

  2. EasyCo. April 20, 2022 at 14:17

    Well, Snake Island was as fake as the Ghost of Kiev.

    And, yeah, NATO is involved up to its neck in this.

    • American Yeoman April 20, 2022 at 14:26

      So when does the Lusitania II get sunk?

      • NC Scout April 20, 2022 at 16:42

        It did, named moskova. Guess who the Germans are this time?

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