MYSTERY surrounded the sunken Russian warship Moskva as the Kremlin released video appearing to show survivors, including the captain who was pronounced dead after the hit.
Two days after the attack, Russia claimed the Russian Navy chief met with the ship’s crew in Sevastopol, but hundreds of sailors are still missing.
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Vladimir Putin’s ship sank on Thursday after a fire and explosion and according to Ukraine its entire crew of 510 sailors were on board.
The fate of the ship’s crew remains a mystery, with kyiv claiming “the entire crew of the cruiser Moskva is dead” while Russia has suggested the crew was evacuated and taken to the port of Sevastopol.
Russian reports also said the warship was under tow when it sank.
Earlier reports claimed that a Turkish ship had rescued more than 50 sailors.
And now the Russian Defense Ministry has released a 26-second video showing Navy chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, 60, addressing naval officers and sailors.
It is not known when the meeting took place or who is attending.
One of the officers present resembled Captain 1st Rank Anton Kuprin, commander of the Moskva, who the Ukrainians said had been killed in the sinking apparently caused by a Neptune missile strike.
There were reports of an eight-hour battle to save the ship from sinking.
There were about 150 men visible on the Sevastopol parade ground, while the crew of the stricken warship numbered 510.
It was not clarified why so many people were missing.
The men were lined up in such a way as to give the impression of being numerous on the parade square.
There was no reference to any deaths – yet at a vigil yesterday in the town there were prayers for lost sailors.
There were also no references to injuries from the fire and a giant explosion that sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The admiral was shown on television saying: “The crew of the cruiser Moskva is at the main base, heroic city of Sevastopol.”
“Officers, midshipmen and contract personnel will continue to serve in the Navy.”
Sailors conscripted on the Moskva would be relieved of their duties in the near future, he said.
However, this admission goes against Vladimir Putin’s assurance that no conscripts – usually aged 18 or 19 – were involved in the war.
“Mandatory [military] service personnel, in accordance with the law, will be released from May to July, and will leave to be enrolled in the military register,” the Admiral said.
MISSING SAILORS
A TASS report of the meeting failed to mention that the Moskva had been sunk.
Another report initially suggested that the ship’s “entire crew” had been evacuated, but the word “entirely” was later dropped.
Ukrainian spokesman Anton Gerashchenko asked where the missing men were.
And strangely, state television showed no footage of the crew returning home.
Previously, Gerashchenko, claimed that “the explosion was so strong that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet sank within minutes.”
He claimed to have heard this from sources in Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
“Apparently, as a result of the fire, the warheads of the large P-1000 – Vulkan – cruise missile exploded. And there were 16 of them on board the cruiser.
Yesterday a moving “mourning ceremony” took place for Moskva and her sailors in Sevastopol, her home port, as relatives of the crew defied Russian orders.
It was unofficial but there was no mention of the death toll, yet it seemed clear from this somber ceremony presided over by a priest that there had been a significant loss of life.
A wreath was placed near a statue of the Black Fleet that read, “To Ship and Sailors.”
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