Article Image

IPFS News Link • Ukraine

Ukrainian experts worry sunken Russian warship was carrying nukes

• By Yaron Steinbuch and Evan Simko-Bednarski

Several Ukrainian experts have raised the possibility that the 12,500-ton Moskva could have been carrying nuclear weapons when it sank Thursday, though US officials disputed that assessment.

US intelligence does not believe the ship was carrying nuclear arms, CNN reported Friday, citing two senior US officials. Those officials said that western intelligence has been monitoring the battlefield for unusual movements of nuclear weapons and has not seen any.

The alarm was sounded Thursday by Mykhailo Samus, deputy director of the Lyiv-based Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, who said on Facebook that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads, East2West News reported.

However, the expert said they would have been in a "protected place" that would have prevented them from being damaged in the explosion, according to the news outlet.

Still, the fear of the ship's weaponry comes weeks after defiant Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country's nuclear weapons on high alert following the start of the invasion.

The Kremlin's main mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov, also warned last month that Russia would use nukes if Putin suspects an "existential threat."

Regardless, the downing of its Black Sea flagship has already been described as a huge loss for the invading country.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that the ship's sinking has dealt a "big blow" to the Russian fleet.


thelibertyadvisor.com/declare