A vessel at the helm of Russia's Black Sea fleet has been badly damaged. Russia's Defense Ministry said that sailors had contained a fire on board the Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, and that measures were being taken to tow it back to port.

The ministry also announced the cruiser's main weaponry had not been damaged and that its crew had been evacuated onto other ships in the Black Sea.

However, Ukraine's southern military command said in a Facebook post that Moskva was hit with a Neptune missile on Wednesday, causing significant damage, and that the ship had started sinking.

The southern military command also mentioned that Russian rescue ships were hampered by ammunition exploding on board as well as bad weather.

The Moskva was originally built in the Soviet era and was previously deployed in the Syria conflict where it served as naval protection for the Russian forces' Hmeimim airbase.

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