The missile cruiser and flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was sunk last week, after being hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles. The war ship had over 400 crew on board when it went down, with their fate still a mystery. The Kremlin claimed the Moskva sank after ammunition exploded on board following a fire and that all crew were evacuated.
However, a Russian dad whose son has been listed as “missing”, accused Putin and his officials for lying over the number of casualties – and for trying to suppress the truth.
Dmitry Shkrebets is the father of Yegor, a conscript serving on the missile cruiser after being called up for active duty in July 2021.
Yegor was working as one of the ship’s cooks when the Moskva was hit on the night between April 13 and 14.
In a post to his Vkontakte (VK) page, Mr Shkrebets wrote: “On the night of April 13 and 14, the tragedy happened – the truth about which we are trying to find out.
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“The official version from the Ministry of Defence claims there was a fire on board, which detonated ammunition.
“They said all the crew was evacuated. But this is a lie! A vile and cynical lie!”
The father has been informed that his son has been listed as missing in action, something which he dismissed as nonsense.
He continued: “My conscript son, who should not have been taking part in a war, is classified as ‘missing without news’.
“Lads, he has disappeared without news in the open sea?!!!”
Mr Shkrebets said he has tried to find out what really happened from the Russian Navy – but has been rebuffed in his attempts.
The grieving father revealed: “I asked them, why you, Russian naval officers, are alive and my conscript son is dead.”
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Many of his social media posts had called for Ukraine’s destruction and attacked the “fake news” about the Bucha civilian massacres.
Russian defence officials initially denied there had been any casualties after the Moskva sank and that all the crew had been evacuated.
A video was even distributed which purportedly showed the ship’s crew on parade in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
The sailors, who numbered about 100, were inspected by the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.
On Friday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence finally admitted that one crew member was killed and 27 others are missing.