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Good morning,
Russia Warship Sinks
The weather forecast in Crimea for April 14th shows wind speeds of 20 miles an hour. Not much of “a storm” for a Russian warship, to go to the bottom of the black sea after it was placed undertow say Russian authorities.
The Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet suffered a fire says the Russian Ministry of Defense denying it was hit by Ukrainian missiles, but that’s likely what happened.
The Ukrainians say distracted the warships radars with drones, and then hit it with 2 Neptune Cruise missiles they say.
The Russian’s said the ship was afloat and “buoyant” . The Ukrainians said she was on fire.
The Russians said the crew of 510 had been evacuated. The Ukrainians now say as many as half of them may have perished. But we don’t know for sure.
It is the most significant naval vessel to be sunk since the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano was hit by a British torpedo in 1982. And, the first time Moscow has lost a cruiser since German planes sank the Chervona Ukraina (Red Ukraine) in 1941 at Sevastopol.
On Russian TV last night there were calls for retribution including attacks on Kyiv. The Moskva was a missile cruiser assigned to the Black Sea to take out air threats from Ukraine. It’s loss is humiliating, and exposes the Ukrainians to air attacks.
As we speak the Russians are preparing to launch a new offensive in eastern Ukraine with many analysts saying Russian forces are in disarray after 51 days of war.
So on Back Story w/Dana Lewis podcast this week I talk to the former U.S. Army Commander in Europe, Ben Hodges about Russia’s capabilities.
And Hanna Notte form the Vienna Center for Disarmament draws parallels with Russia’s role in Syria, including the fact that Russia abandoned certain corridors in that war and then doubled back. An ominous reminder Russia may return to attack Kyiv later.
The audio podcast link;
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/10437535
Or you can check out the video interview here in two parts;
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Dana Lewis