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I’m Nidhi Razdan, and this is Hot Mic. Russia has been invading Ukraine for more than 50 days. Vladimir Putin expected Kyiv to surrender within five days. Things have clearly not turned out the way he had hoped. In recent weeks, Russia has suffered a string of military setbacks. The greatest was the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the Moskva, last week, which is now at the bottom of the sea. The 600-foot, 12,500-tonne vessel is not insignificant. Ukraine claims to have destroyed the ship with its cutting-edge Neptune missiles. Russia, on the other hand, claims that the ship went down due to a fire on board, which involved munitions stored in the hull. In any case, the sinking of the Moskva is a historic event. The ship, which was outfitted with surface-to-air missiles, supplied long-range and mobile air defence for Russia’s entire fleet in the Black Sea.
Russian cruisers, frigates, missile corvettes, and amphibious landing ships capable of carrying large numbers of troops are included. Without the Moskva’s protective cover and firepower, the entire fleet is now more vulnerable to an attack. Around 500 Russian sailors were on board the Moskva, and the Russians are believed to have safely evacuated the majority of them. Neither Russia nor the United States has commented on the number of possible mortalities on board, if any exist at all. If the Ukrainians do manage to hit the ship with their missiles, it will be a major setback for Russia. At the very least, symbolically.
The sinking is a humiliation for the mighty Russians, especially at a time when morale among its troops is said to be low, and Ukraine has scored a major propaganda point. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry claims that it has killed approximately 20,000 Russian soldiers and officers. A claim that has yet to be independently verified. A Kremlin spokesman acknowledged that Russia has suffered “significant troop losses” in Ukraine, but did not provide a specific number of casualties. The sinking of the great and powerful Moskva also debunks the Russian military’s myth of invincibility. At the same time, it has boosted the morale of Ukrainians fighting a David versus Goliath battle. However, experts are splitted on whether this would have a significant military impact. So far, Russia’s Navy has not been used in the war, though there have been rumours that the Moskva will be used in an attack on the Ukrainian region of Odessa. Aside from that, Russia has primarily used aircraft and land-based systems to launch attacks.
