Russian Cruiser Moskva

The Russian missile cruiser “Moskva”, until 1995 called “Slava”, was the first unit of a very interesting type of ship of the project 1164, characterized by, inter alia, 16 anti-ship missile launchers set inclined in the bow section. Project 1164 missile cruisers, which, apart from “Moskva”, also include “Varyag” (ex-“Red Ukraine”), “Marshal Ustinov” (ex-“Admiral Lobov”) and “Ukraine” (ex-“Komsomolets”, ex-“Fleet Admiral Lobov”), when they entered service, were considered to be among the best in their class. They had enormous firepower, and thanks to their technologically advanced missiles, they were called “aircraft carrier killers”, due to their primary purpose, which was to destroy American aircraft carriers.

“Moskva” gained its “fame” thanks to the spectacular sinking which took place during the hostilities during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After she fired on Snake Island on February 24, whose personnel refused to lay down their arms, on April 13, 2022, around 19.00 she was hit by two anti-ship missiles. At that time, approximately 60 nautical miles south of Odessa, the cruiser was badly damaged. A fire broke out and ammunition exploded.