The Pentagon has claimed Ukrainian forces hit the Russian warship Moskva with two Neptune missiles, causing it to catch fire and sink in the Black Sea, an apparent ratcheting up of its psychological warfare against the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
“We can confirm the Russian ship Moskva was struck by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles,” a senior Pentagon official told The Hill on Friday.
The official added the US believes there were Russian casualties, but added that the numbers are unclear.
The Russian defense ministry on Thursday said that Moskva sunk in stormy seas after an overnight fire caused the ship’s stored ammunition to explode but did not mention an attack.
The Russian navy later attempted to tow the ship into port on the Crimea peninsula for repairs, but it sank.
Ukraine however claimed it launched a missile strike on the Moskva from the coast, which ripped open the Soviet-era ship.
“What’s coming out of Washington is psychological warfare, nothing more,” said Don DeBar, a journalist based in New York.
READ ALSO: World Health Organization chief : Treat all human life equally
“Even without the Russians, and with US help, Ukraine has been unable to project power into the east for the past 8 years. Now the Russians have taken out the air defenses, and apparently, they’ve also pretty much decimated the Azov fascist battalions,”
“The Ukrainians themselves say that the Russians have already cut through to Kyiv and some other cities in the West,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbas region to “defend people” subjected to “genocide” there against government forces, stressing that Moscow has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”
US President Joe Biden called the Russian action an “unprovoked and unjustified attack,” and the American media described it as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two assault by Russia.
