Ukraine did not warn the US about plans to destroy the flagship of the Russian fleet "Moskva ". Therefore, the Americans were furious when the cruiser was sunk.
This is stated in an investigation by The New York Times into the role of Americans in Ukrainian operations against Russia.
In mid-April 2022, American and Ukrainian naval officers were on a routine intelligence exchange call when their radar screens suddenly reported the sinking of the Russian cruiser “Moskva”.
According to an unnamed former senior US officer, the Americans exclaimed in surprise: “Oh, this is Moskva!”
And the Ukrainians said: “Oh my God. Thank you very much. Goodbye.”
The sinking of the “Moskva” was an undeniable victory—a demonstration of Ukrainian skill and Russian incompetence. At the same time, this episode also revealed the misunderstanding in Ukrainian-American relations in the first weeks of a full-scale war.
For Americans, this was a source of indignation — because the Ukrainians did not even warn about the operation; surprise — because it turned out that Ukraine had missiles capable of hitting such a ship; and panic — because the administration of President Joe Biden did not plan to give the Ukrainians the opportunity to attack such a powerful symbol of Russian power.
- On April 13, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired two Neptune missiles at the Russian cruiser “Moskva”, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. After that, a fire broke out on board, and on April 14, Russia admitted that the “Moskva” had sunk, but did not give any reasons. This is the very ship that the Ukrainian defenders of the Snake Island had “sent”.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.