Why Russia has taken the sinking of Moskva warship so seriously

Ukrainian forces have hit another ship of the Russian Black Fleet, reportedly sinking it. A 12,490 Tonne Slava Class Guided Missile Cruiser named “Moskva” was hit from Ukrainian territory and was sunk before it could be tugged away to its home base in Sevastopol.

Moskva was no ordinary ship; it was the flagship and command centre of the entire Russian Black Sea fleet. Not only this, armed with three tiers of formidable Air Defence system which included 64 long-range S-300F Missiles, 40 Medium Range OSA-AM missiles and Six AK-630 Close in Weapon systems, Moskva was a floating Air Defence centre that was able to create a complete Air Defence umbrella in over 100Km radius.

The sinking of this ship has created a major void in Russian Air Defence in the Black Sea making all its ships operating in the vicinity of Odessa vulnerable.

Moskva was doing regular patrolling between Odessa and Crimea keeping the area free for operation for Russian Amphibious Forces. Reportedly, a large flotilla of Russian Amphibious ships was waiting in the area preparing for an attack on Odessa and Moskva was deployed to give them Air Defence Cover.

Since it was frequenting in the area and had a predictable patrolling route, the ship proved to be an easy target for Ukrainian Missiles. The way Ukrainian land forces first distracted the battlecruiser with multiple drones, a strategy which kept its three-tier Air Defence System engaged and then targeted it with two P-360 Anti-Ship Neptune Missiles hitting the starboard side of the ship and stern respectively, causing massive damage.

There were inputs that due to this attack, one or more P-100 Vulcan Missile tubes too got blasted. Russia tried to salvage the ship but it sank before reaching its home base in Sevastopol. Earlier on 24th March 2022 too, Ukrainian Forces claimed of hitting another Russian Naval Ship “Orsk” which was a large landing ship with 3400 Tonnes of displacement.

However, Moskva was the largest ship ever sunk in a naval battle since World War II hence it is significant to understand where the Russian-Ukraine war is heading to?

Before that, we must understand how the water of the black sea simmered in the past year when the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war is entering into another dimension. Between Jan-March 2021, two major events happened. First was the deployment of the United States Navy in the Black Sea and second, was the demand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a NATO membership.

Since then, the situation in the Black Sea has always been fragile. US deployment in the Black Sea was totally against the “Montreux Convention” which ensures the safety of Naval Vessels to the countries located in the Black Sea.

The thing did not end here, US Navy vessels kept entering the Black Sea repeatedly against all the protocols even in April 2021, November 2021 & again in January 2022. Not only United States Navy but British Naval Forces also manoeuvred in the Black Sea several times and were patrolling in close proximity to Russian Naval bases.

Things were so tense that on 23rd June 2021, when “HMS Defender” moved into the waters of Crimea, the Russian Navy had to fire warning shots to keep it away. Do these events clearly clarify who instigated the war?

Nevertheless, it is pertinent to understand in the present scenario how the situation will unfold in the Black Sea in the current situation of the Russian-Ukraine war.

Comparing the Navies of Ukraine and Russia would not be the right thing as Ukrainian Navy has never been a potent force in the Black Sea. The entire Navy is made up of a few old landing crafts, patrol ships & auxiliary vessels of significantly old vintage.

They were operating from various bases in Crimea but after the 2014 crisis, they had to shift themselves to bases like Odessa, Berdyansk, Ochakiv and Mykolaiv. Further during the last fifty days of the war, most of the remaining Ukrainian Navy is destroyed or captured along with all its bases in the Azov Sea as well as the proximity of the Crimean Peninsula leaving only a few ships located in Odessa which are also non-operational.

Russia thought that in the event of the Ukrainian Navy being subsided, it can control the entire Black Sea effectively but the attack on “Moskva” proved that it must change its strategy and revise its operational deployment in the Black Sea.

Since Turkey has closed “Dardanelles Strait” for all the ships not registered at any port of the Black Sea, it is not possible for Russia to send another ship of a similar category to replace Moskva unless registered in Black Sea Fleet.

Since at present there is no other ship available for Air Defence coverage, the entire of its Naval fleet is now vulnerable to Ukrainian missiles and even if it allocates another ship of a similar category like “Marshal Ustinov” or “Varyag” to the Black Sea Fleet, they will take a long time to reach the area. Till then, it must manage the situation with the existing resources which are not going to be easy.

Under such circumstances, Russia is left with no option but to intensify its operations in Ukraine and make a fast-paced attempt to capture its objectives before it suffers any more damage to its fleet.

It may also have to deploy its Air Force for providing Air Defence cover to Black Sea Fleet which means diluting its air operations from other areas. However, one thing is sure, by hitting the flagship of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet, Ukraine has achieved a major objective and Russia has to think twice as to what cost it is paying for the war.

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