Sinking the Moskva

In April 2022, the Russian Navy lost the Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet and one of the largest surface warships to be sunk in combat in decades. But how did a Cold War-era guided missile cruiser, armed with enormous anti-ship missiles and a powerful air-defense system, end up at the bottom of the Black Sea? To understand the sinking of Moskva, we have to go all the way back to the Soviet Union and the development of the Slava-class missile cruisers. Designed during the Cold War to help counter the enormous naval power of the United States and NATO, these ships represented the Soviet approach to naval warfare: if the USSR couldn't match Western carrier fleets ship-for-ship, it could threaten them with huge numbers of long-range anti-ship missiles. Moskva began life as Slava, entering Soviet service in 1983. She would go on to escort Mikhail Gorbachev during the famous 1989 Malta Summit before spending much of her career operating with the Black Sea Fleet. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, she was renamed Moskva and eventually became the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. But as the decades passed, the cruiser became increasingly difficult to maintain. A major modernization was repeatedly delayed, while Russia continued relying on the aging warship for important deployments. Although Moskva eventually received repairs and some upgrades, much of her original Cold War-era architecture remained. Then came February 2022 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Moskva became heavily involved in operations in the Black Sea, including operations around Snake Island. On April 13, 2022, Ukrainian forces attacked the cruiser with Neptune anti-ship missiles. What followed was a catastrophic combination of missile damage, fires, explosions, flooding, and the loss of the ship's ability to effectively control the damage. So what actually caused Moskva to sink? Was it simply the Neptune missiles, or did decades of aging, maintenance problems, design compromises, and operational decisions all play a role? In this video, we'll look at the history of the Slava class, the design of Moskva, her decades of service, the circumstances surrounding the 2022 attack, and the consequences of losing the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The sinking of Moskva remains one of the most significant naval losses of the 21st century—and a fascinating example of how modern anti-ship weapons can threaten even large and heavily armed warships. Thanks for watching, and don't forget to like and subscribe for more naval history!