The sinking of the flagship Moskva, accidentally recognized by a Russian military tribunal in a deleted document

A military court in Moscow confirmed Thursday, involuntarily, that Ukrainian anti-ship missiles hit and sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, 20022. in The press release that contradicts the official version maintained by the Kremlin so far about this naval failure was quickly deleted, according to the Kyiv Post.

According to a sentence published by the Military Court of the Second District of Russia, Colonel Andriy Shubin, commander of the 406th Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Marines, was directly involved in the sinking of the warship, after he allegedly ordered his subordinates operating coastal batteries to open fire on the cruiser, in the confrontation on April 13, 2022. The attack led to killing and wounding several Russian sailors and officers on board.

According to Ukrainian media and independent observers, two Ukrainian Neptune-type anti-ship missiles struck the cruiser Moskva, causing fires on board and destroying the approximately 12,000-ton armored vessel, which at the time was by far the largest warship in the Black Sea.

Passing merchant ships photographed and filmed the badly damaged superstructure before the warship sank.

Western intelligence services attributed the sinking to the naval forces of Ukraine.

Initially, the Kremlin-affiliated media ignored the incident, but later adopted a version according to which the cruiser was lost after six hours of fighting with a fire that broke out on board due to a short circuit in rough seas, which would have hampered damage limitation operations.

The Moscow court appears to have rejected the “accidental sinking” version promoted for years by Russian state media and instead held Shubin (tried in absentia) directly responsible for the destruction of the Moskva cruiser, killing 20 Russian sailors and injuring 24 others on board. Eight other sailors are still missing as a result of the “premeditated attack” on the Russian warship, the court ruling said.

Russian military prosecutors said they had gathered “convincing evidence” that Shubin had deliberately attacked the ship, which the court said was “engaged in humanitarian support operations”. In this context, the Ukrainian strikes, the loss of human life and the damage caused were qualified as “acts of international terrorism”.

“Russian ship, go to hell!”

One of the first overt hostile acts of the Russo-Ukrainian war occurred on 24 February 2022, when a Russian naval group, led by the flagship Moskva, approached the Ukrainian-controlled Snake Island, about 65 kilometers west of Romania, and ordered the military there to surrender or fire would be opened.

Ukraine's response, radioed by a border guard officer, Roman Hribov – “Russian ship, go to hell!” – quickly became an international meme and a prime symbol of Ukraine's defiance of Russia. Later, however, the bombardment led by Moskva quelled the resistance on the island. Hribov was taken prisoner and later released.

What the Russian court decided

Colonel Shubin's “guilt” for the actions that led to the sinking of the cruiser Moskva nearly two months later, offshore south of Snake Island, means that the Ukrainian officer — should he ever be apprehended by Russian authorities — would serve a prison term, the length of which will be determined by a judge, as well as pay a fine of 2,233,307,584.88 rubles (about $29.39 million), representing compensation for damage caused to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the statement said.

According to the court statement, an attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on April 3, which damaged the Russian frigate Admiral Zossen in the international waters of the Black Sea, 100–150 kilometers east of the Danube Delta in Romania, was also allegedly ordered by Shubin, in violation of Russian law.

The verdict was expunged

The official release detailing the court's decision and sanctions against Shubin was publicly visible for less than a day before authorities withdrew it, independent Russian platform Mediazona reported in an article published Thursday, which also included a screenshot of the deleted document.

By the time of publication, the Military Court of the Second District of Moscow had not responded to a request for comment sent by the Kyiv Post on Friday.