MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva, which was involved in Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, was badly damaged after Russia said a fire sparked munitions explosions onboard.
Here are three things to know about Russia’s symbolic warship which, in addition to being involved in military missions, has been a tool of Moscow’s diplomacy.
– Soviet origins –
The 186-metre (610-foot) missile cruiser — then called Slava (Glory) — was designed to destroy aircraft carriers and entered service in the early 1980s.
Later renamed Moskva (Moscow), the vessel carries 16 Vulkan anti-ship missiles, as well as an array of anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons.
The Moskva has twice undergone major repairs, the last time between 2018 and 2020, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
Russia’s defence ministry says the ship can carry a crew of up to 680 people.
– Three wars –
The warship has been deployed in several military conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of its Caucasus neighbour Georgia in August 2008.
Russia has not disclosed information about the vessel’s mission during that war.
But a senior Georgian military official at the time told AFP Thursday it sailed into Georgia’s Black Sea port of Ochamchire and attacked Georgian forces in the Kodori Valley of the breakaway republic of Abkhazia, helping pro-Russian separatist forces gain control.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president at the time, expressed his “gratitude” to the ship’s crew for their “courage and determination” during the conflict.
The Moskva was also deployed in the Mediterranean during the Syrian war, where the defence ministry said it ensured the protection of the Russian forces’ Hmeimim airbase.
Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the entire crew the Order of Nakhimov — a naval decoration for outstanding military leadership — for “their courage and determination”.
The ship operates out of Sevastopol, the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Moscow-annexed Crimea.
The Moskva gained notoriety in the early stages of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, launched on February 24, when its crew called on Ukrainian border guards defending the strategic Snake Island to surrender, only for them to defiantly refuse.
– Diplomatic platform –
The Moskva has previously played a role in the diplomatic efforts of Russian and Soviet leadership.
When still called Slava, it took part in the open-sea Malta Summit held between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then-US president George Bush, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The Slava hosted the Soviet delegation, although the actual meeting took place aboard a Soviet cruise ship, the Maxim Gorky.
The ship also participated in a nuclear disarmament conference in Yalta in August 1990.
As part of military exercises, Moskva has travelled the world, docking in a number of ports across Europe, Asia and Africa.
It also played host to several foreign leaders.
Putin and then-Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi visited the cruiser while it was in Italian waters in August 2003 and in 2014, Putin had an onboard meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
© Agence France-Presse
