A Russian warship in the Black Sea was “seriously damaged” on Wednesday, according to a Ukrainian military official and Russia’s state news agencies, though each claimed different reasons. for destruction.

The head of the Odessa military forces, Maxim Marchenko, told the Telegram that Ukrainian forces attacked the ship using Neptune anti-ship missiles.

He said it was the same ship that was obscene and notoriously chased by Ukrainian troops in February, saying it was “exactly where our border guards sent it to Snake Island!”

Hours later, the Russian Defense Ministry said bullets exploded on the ship, a missile cruiser named Moscowas a result of “fire”, According to state news agency Tass.

The agency reported that crews were evacuated from the ship and is investigating the cause of the fire.

Neither account can be verified independently.

If Marchenko’s statements are correct, the damage to the warship would mark a impressive military victory for Ukraine:

the heavy Moskva is the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The ship, which is more than 180 meters long, first entered service in the early 1980s with the Soviet navy and was carrying 16 Vulcan missile launchers with a strike range of more than 400 miles, agencies reported. . Russian news.

It was deployed off the coast of Syria in 2015 to provide air defense and patrolled the coast of Georgia during a conflict with Russia in 2008.

Ukraine has repeatedly claimed to have wrecked Russian warships since the war began, but its reports have not always been independently verified.

In March, the Ukrainian military said it had wrecked a Russian ship in the Russian -occupied port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, and videos and photos were reviewed by New York Times They confirmed that a Russian ship was on fire in the port.

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