Sinking of Russian warship raises tense questions about fate of crew

[mahatmakanejeeves]

EUROPE

Sinking of Russian warship raises tense questions about fate of crew

Some families report sailors dead or missing in Moskva sinking despite Defense Ministry claim that all were evacuated

By Jeanne Whalen and Mary Ilyushina
Yesterday at 9:19 a.m. EDT | Updated yesterday at 2:00 p.m. EDT

RIGA, Latvia — The sinking of the Russian warship Moskva is causing tension back home, where some families are reporting sailors dead or missing despite a Defense Ministry claim that the whole crew had been evacuated. ... The flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet sank last week after being hit by two Ukrainian missiles, delivering a significant blow to the Russian naval capacity, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said.

Russia confirmed that the ship sank but said only that it had been damaged by “heavy storms” and a fire that caused ammunition on board to detonate. On April 14, the Russian Defense Ministry said all crew members were evacuated. The authorities have not confirmed any dead or wounded. ... But several families are now contradicting this claim in Russian media reports and on social media. Social media groups uniting mothers of Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine are filling up with photos and pleas from parents looking for their missing sons.

{snip}

One mother said her son, who survived, told her that about 40 people died and many were wounded and missing in the sinking. The newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe published the remarks of the unnamed woman on Sunday, saying it had reviewed documents proving that the son served in the navy, though not specific proof that he had been aboard the Moskva when it sank. ... “There are dead, there are wounded, there are missing. My son called me when they were given phones. They left their documents and phones on the ship. He calls me and cries from what he saw. It was scary. It is clear that not everyone survived,” said the mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for her safety.

{snip}

On Sunday, a user of the social media platform VKontakte said the Moskva commanders told him that his son Yegor, a conscript, was among those missing in the tragedy. Russia earlier “said that the entire crew had been evacuated. It’s a lie! A blatant and cynical lie!” Dmitry Shkrebets wrote.

{snip}

By Jeanne Whalen
Jeanne Whalen is a reporter covering business around the world. She previously reported for the Wall Street Journal from New York, London and Moscow. Twitter https://twitter.com/JeanneWhalen

[niyad]

1. And does this come as a surprise to anyone?

[Mister Ed]

5. A surprise to many Russians, I'm afraid.

From what I have read, it seems that many in Russia are thoroughly brainwashed by the state media, which is like Fox News on steroids. They believe what they're told, even if it's the preposterous claim that "a fire and an explosion" aboard a missile cruiser would produce no casualties.

[localroger]

2. Well DUH

Russia has done a lot of dumb things in the course of this conflict but trying to pretend that the crew of the Moskva, most of whom are certainly dead, are OK is right up there with the dumbest.

[Botany]

3. Hopefully the crew of the Moskva paid a steep price for turning

this



into this:



Russia needs a 2nd revolution in order to remove the murdering thug Putin and his henchmen
who have stolen at least 1 trillion $s from the people of Russia.

[madeup64]

4. I remember reading a comment here at the beginning of the invasion here on du

Basically saying that once the "mothers of Russia" receive letters from their sons in battle contradicting what the Russian government/state media are telling everyone it could lead to protests and public opinion there turning on Putin and the war. Let's hope this is the beginning of that.

[Phoenix61]

6. The water is, at best, 52F. There's not a lot of time to get

pulled from the water before losing consciousness.(30 min-2hrs)