Russian warship: Moskva sinks in Black Sea

After saying initially the warship was afloat, late on Thursday the Russian defence ministry announced that the Moskva had been lost.

The 12,490-tonne vessel is the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War Two.

"While being towed... towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank," the Russian defence ministry said.

By Jenny Hill, BBC News, Moscow

This is a significant and humiliating loss for Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly insisted that his "special military operation" in Ukraine is going according to plan.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Russian state media are not dwelling on the loss of the pride of the Black Sea fleet.

Morning TV bulletins limited themselves to briefly reporting the statement issued by the authorities, who claim the ship sank in stormy seas after fire and explosions on board caused significant damage to its hull.

"It's more about psychological damage than material damage," Mykola Bielieskov from Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC.

"It won't remove Russia's naval blockade on Ukraine completely," he said. "But it's a powerful symbol that we can employ sophisticated weaponry effectively."

But Mr Bielieskov, who advises the Ukrainian government on military strategy, did predict that "Russian ships will now be forced to move further from the Ukrainian shore, where they can no longer feel secure."

The Moskva didn't itself fire missiles at Ukrainian land targets, but military experts told the BBC that it offered crucial support to other vessels that did.

The remaining vessels in Russia's Black Sea fleet will now be more vulnerable to aerial attacks - although it's not clear that Ukraine's depleted forces have the resources to take advantage of this.

"The Moskva was the only ship in the fleet which had long-range air defences on board," said Sidharth Kaushal, a sea power expert at the Royal United Services Institute.

"While smaller vessels were conducting bombardments of Ukrainian cities, the Moskva was providing them with wide-area air cover."

The guided missile cruiser was previously deployed by Moscow in the Syria conflict where it supplied Russian forces in the country with naval protection.

It is the second major vessel Russia has lost since the start of its invasion.

Admiral Lord West, former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, said that as well as being a military blow the vessel's loss was "very embarrassing".

"This has a huge impact," Lord West said, speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM before confirmation that the Moskva had sunk.

"Putin loves the navy. When he came into power, the first bit of the old Soviet forces that he put effort into was the navy. He's always had a soft spot for it."