Doubts have been raised about images shared by the Russian Defense Ministry shortly after the sinking of its flagship Moskva that would show the rescued crew. This is apparent from, among other things, the story of an aunt of one of the passengers that can be seen.
The Moskva sank in the Black Sea on the night of April 13 to 14, but versions differ as to the true facts. Ukraine claimed the ship sank after being hit by two of its Neptune missiles, which was later confirmed by the US Pentagon. Russia believed that a fire had broken out on board and that the ammunition had exploded. Later, the Kremlin revised that statement and it sounded that the ship had been wrecked in a storm during the salvage.
There was also uncertainty about the number of victims. About 500 crew members were said to have been on board and according to Ukraine, only 58 could be rescued. Moscow claimed everyone was rescued and shared footage of the crew members to prove it. According to estimates, however, there were only about 240 people on board. A few days later it suddenly sounded that 396 crew members had been rescued, that 27 were still missing and that one person had died.
Doubts
Immediately after the images were released on April 16, doubts arose about its authenticity. According to critics, they were recorded before the flagship sank. An aunt of one of the passengers seems to confirm that story with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and to provide the strongest evidence to date.
The woman sent the editors an image from the video, where her cousin Sergei Grudinin (21) can be seen. Only: the young man did not return to his family. The last time he contacted his parents was on April 10. Usually, however, he called or wrote to his loved ones every two weeks.
His mother was first told that he was still alive, but was called back a short time later by a man of the same name as the deputy commander of the Moskva, who told her that her son was missing. The woman later told the BBC that she had received another phone call from someone from the navy later on who informed her that her son had “wrapped with the ship”.
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