The United States Department of Defense later confirmed this, and Russia reported that the ship had sunk in stormy seas after the fire reached munitions onboard and they exploded.

"[9][10] At 12:43, 14 April EEST, the Ukrainian Southern Command posted a video on Facebook with a report stating the ship had received damage within the range of the Neptune anti-ship missile and that there was a fire onboard.

[12][13][14][15] The ministry said on 14 April that the missile systems of the cruiser were undamaged, the fire was contained by sailors, and that efforts were underway to tow the ship to port.

[21] The United States Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said early on 14 April that they did not have enough information to confirm a missile strike, but could not rule it out.

[23] A senior Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated the ship was "battling a fire on board, but we do not know the extent of the damage” but it was "big" and "extensive.

[25] At 02:59, 14 April 2022 [EEST], the Telegram channel Reverse Side of the Medal, associated with the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, posted the following: "According to unconfirmed reports, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, sank."

"[26][27] At 10:59, 14 April 2022 [EEST], the Lithuanian defense minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, reported on Facebook that an SOS signal was sent at 01:05, the cruiser rolled onto its side at 01:14, and the electricity went out half an hour later.

[32][33] The Ukrainian missiles were apparently fired from a land-based launcher near Odesa while Moskva was located 60–65 nautical miles (110–120 kilometres) offshore.

"[41] Moskva was equipped with a triple-tiered air defense that could have provided an adequate chance of intercepting the incoming Neptune missiles, with 3–4 minutes of radar detection warning.

[46][44][47] A Ukrainian video "shot from the air with a night vision scope,"[44] claimed to show Moskva burning in the distance,[48] and could have been made by a Bayraktar drone flying in the area.

"[45] Mevlutoglu mentioned that Rear Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian naval forces, had in the past suggested that TB2 drones would be used with Neptune launchers for target reconnaissance.

[50] With such systems active, the cruiser was expected to survive several strikes from Neptune missiles (150 kg or 320 lb warhead each) due to its large displacement; one salvo combat model scenario suggests that at least eleven Neptune missiles would have needed to been launched simultaneously; Moskva could have defeated six of them, with the remaining five getting through its defenses and striking the ship, causing just enough hull damage to sink it.

However, this assumes that ship munitions were not detonated by the impact thus poor damage control,[6][21][43] using conscripts instead of mid-grade professionals, and insufficient compartmentation have been suggested as contributing reasons to why the cruiser sank.

[52] By 18 April, two images and a short 3-second video clip were circulating on social media showing Moskva after the fire broke out and prior to the final sinking.

The images show the ship listing to port in daylight and calm seas, with signs of extensive fire damage around the central superstructure in addition to the presence of holes at the waterline, and most of her life rafts missing, indicating that some of the crew had evacuated by this point.

[57] Lithuania's defense minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on 14 April that a distress signal had been sent from Moskva that day, and a Turkish ship responded, evacuating 54 personnel from the cruiser at 2 am, before she sank at 3 am.

[30][58][29][59] Ukrainian sources reported on 15 April that some of Moskva's crew were killed, including First Rank Captain (NATO OF-5, US O-6) Anton Kuprin (age 43), the ship's commanding officer, at the time of the explosion.

[64] The Russian Ministry of Defense said soon after the sinking that the crew had been evacuated,[60] and initially did not report any casualties; however, some relatives of sailors have been told that their family member was "missing".

[61] According to independent Russian online newspaper The Insider, out of a complement of 500 to 700 crewmen, about 100 sailors, and notably the First Rank Captain of the ship Anton Kuprin, are visible in the video.

[1] Naval News reported that the Russian Defense Ministry video showed around 240 people survived, which is roughly half the crew.

[66] On 22 April, the Russian Defense Ministry released a statement confirming that one sailor from Moskva was killed and 27 were missing, while 396 crew members were rescued.

[2][67] Family members of crew serving aboard the Moskva allege that the number of missing sailors could be higher and that they have received no official information regarding their fate.

[73] If Ukrainian claims are true, Moskva might be the largest warship ever disabled or destroyed by a missile, according to Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

[21] The Institute for the Study of War reached similar conclusions and said the loss of the ship may force Russia "to either deploy additional air and point-defense assets to the Black Sea battlegroup or withdraw vessels from positions near the Ukrainian coast.

[77] Also in June, some of Russia's many gas platforms were attacked due to decreased area protection, about halfway between Crimea and occupied Snake Island.

[80] While two sister ships of Moskva were deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean as of February 2022,[81] Turkey has for the duration of the war closed the Turkish Straits to belligerent warships whose home port is not in the Black Sea, following the Montreux Convention.

[85][86][87] United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the sinking of Moskva "is a big blow to Russia", with Moscow split between a narrative of incompetence and one of having been attacked.

[90] Sasaki Takahiro, guest professor on Russian security policy at Hiroshima University, stated in The Asahi Shimbun that the sinking of Moskva is compared with that of Yamato, the battleship of Imperial Japan.

[99] Russian TV media only discussed the story briefly, while news articles described out-of-date fire-suppression systems and said that the sinking would not have an effect on the war.

[112] On 24 May, Ukrainian sources claimed that Russia had spent the previous two weeks removing bodies and classified equipment from the wreck of the Moskva.