First images tweeted today of the guided missile cruiser Moskva of the Russian Navy that sank a few days ago in the Black Sea.
The west believes the Moskva cruiser was destroyed with a Ukrainian Neptune missile strike on April 14 (Picture: Rex)

Russia is thought to have ran a hushed operation to fetch hundreds of dead bodies from a sunken navy ship to cover up Vladimir Putin’s lies.

The Moskva cruiser, the flagship of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, was destroyed by a suspected Ukrainian Neptune missile strike on April 14, in the Black Sea.

Although this is what is widely believed in the west, Putin has insisted the ship was just damaged while being towed to port in stormy weather.

Family members of the up to 510 crew members on the ship have since held an unofficial memorial for their sons, despite Moscow only admitting a death toll of one.

The Russian navy has been accused of leaving young, mostly conscripted sailors to drown while ‘officers fled the ships like rats’.

If another country were to find the remains of the ship, and indeed the many bodies allegedly left there, Putin would be exposed.

So he sent seven ships in to recover the evidence, the Ukrainian military claimed.

The Russian Navy's guided missile cruiser Moskva (Moscow) sails back into a harbour after tracking NATO warships in the Black Sea, in the port of Sevastopol.
The Moskva was the flagship of Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet (Picture: Moscow)

Up Next

The spokesperson for Kyiv’s defence ministry, Vadym Skibitskyi, said: ‘They retrieved the bodies, removed all the equipment that was classified, and cleansed this cruiser.

‘They took what wasn’t supposed to fall into the hands of a third country.’

The Telegram channel Ishi Svoikh, which Ukraine previously set up to inform Russian relatives about the fate of their loved ones at war, added: ‘It is completely unclear what happened to the bodies next.’

The salvage operation reportedly took two weeks to complete.

Russian dad Dmitry Shkrebets, 43, is leading a campaign to get to the bottom of what really happened to his 20-year-old son Yegor.

He believes the sailors were ‘abandoned’.

Yegor Shkrebets, 20, a conscript who went missing after the Moskva cruiser death, posing with his father Dmitry Shkrebets.
Dmitry Shkrebets believes his son Yegor was ‘abandoned by officers and left to die’ (Picture: East2West News)
Yegor Shkrebets, 20, a conscript who went missing after the Moskva cruiser death.
Yegor Shkrebets, 20, was conscripted into the navy and has been missing since the Moskva sank (Picture: East2West News)

The dad said: ‘There were no rescue efforts. Putin will answer personally. He is used to lying.

‘Want to know why there were no badly wounded survivors from the Moskva? Because they sank them together with the cruiser.

Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news

Apps With More Than One Million Users
Follow us to receive the latest news updates from Metro (Picture: Getty Images)

Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.

‘They couldn’t tug the ship to Sevastopol, because everyone would realise what happened, so overnight from April 13 to 14 they pulled it further south, and sank it.

‘This is the naked truth. The scary, awful truth, and I’ll prove it. The time will pass, and I’ll prove it. Look at the awful beasts we have as our authorities.’

Yegor was a conscript who had not signed a contract for a military career and therefore had little-to-no official training for the war, Dmitry claimed.

He went on: ‘The pain is unstoppable. The circumstances of their death are horrendous, they were betrayed and left to die.

‘And now the top military officers must be fired – it is the highest ranks who are guilty in the death of the Moskva.’

Fleet Igor Osipov saluting.
Black Sea Fleet leader Igor Vladimirovich Osipov was reportedly been arrested and suspended over Moskva (Picture: Reuters)

The admiral in charge of the Black Sea Fleet, Igor Vladimirovich Osipov, has not been seen since Moskva sank.

Although there were previously rumours that he was on board and died with his men, reports have since said he was actually arrested and suspended for the failure.

If true, he would be one of many purged by Putin as the leader looks for people to blame for Russia’s performance in Ukraine.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.