The Russian Defense Ministry said a fire on the guided-missile cruiser Moskva detonated its ammunition. A senior Ukrainian official said the warship was hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.
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On August 3, 2013, Cuban police stationed the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva at anchor in the port of Havana. Alberto Roque/AFP/

Russia said on Thursday its Black Sea Fleet flagship had been severely damaged and its crew evacuated after what a Ukrainian official said was an explosion caused by a missile strike.

According to Interfax news agency, the Russian Ministry of Defense said a fire on a Moscow missile cruiser detonated ammunition.

The cause of the fire was not said, but Maxim Marchenko, governor of the region near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa, said the Moscow was hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.

"The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea have caused very serious damage," he posted online.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment and could not verify the parties’ claims.

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The Moskva is the second large ship known to have suffered severe damage since the war began. Last month, Ukraine said it had destroyed a landing support ship, the Orsk, in the smaller Sea of ​​Azov.

The Russian navy, which has launched cruise missiles at Ukraine and whose activities in the Black Sea are vital to support land operations in the south of the country, is fighting for full control of the port of Mariupol.

The Russian news agency said the Moskva, which entered service in 1983, is armed with 16 anti-ship Vulcan cruise missiles with a range of at least 700 kilometers.

Russia said 1,026 soldiers of Ukraine's 36th Naval Brigade, including 162 officers, had surrendered in Mariupol, a city under its full control. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said he had no news about the surrender.

Seizing the Azov Starr industrial zone, where the marines are hiding, would give Russia control of Ukraine's main Azov seaport, strengthening the southern land corridor and expanding its hold on the east of the country.

"The Russian army is intensifying its activities on the southern and eastern fronts and trying to avenge their defeat," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address Wednesday night.

Journalists accompanying Russia-backed separatists saw flames emerging from the Azov Valley region on Tuesday within a day