The case of the death of the cruiser “Moscow” was suspended

The Investigative Committee (SC) of Russia suspended the criminal case on the sinking of the cruiser “Moskva”. The agency informed the father of the sailor who died on the ship, Dmytro Shkrebts, about this.

It follows from the notification that the preliminary investigation was terminated due to the fact that “the suspect or the accused hid from the investigation or his whereabouts were not established for other reasons.”

Shkrebets “sees no point in appealing the decision” of the SC, as he “understands perfectly the reasons for its acceptance and the serious circumstances of the incident.” He noted that they will be able to resume the case after “all responsible and immediate executors are in the hands” of the SC of Russia.

At the same time, he added that, in addition to the immediate culprits, there are also “second category” culprits who are in Russia, but are not recognized as participants in the criminal case – also for reasons understandable to Shkrebts. In his words, these are “those who, by their actions, and others by their inaction and incompetence, created the conditions for what happened to the cruiser Moskva, allowed the loss of the flagship and our sailors.”

The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser “Moskva”, which took part in the war with Ukraine, sank on April 14, 2022. The Military Command of Ukraine and the Pentagon reported that the ship was hit by Ukrainian missiles. The Russian side denies this, calling the death of the cruiser the result of a fire that led to the detonation of ammunition.

Initially, the Ministry of Defense of Russia stated that the crew of the “Moscow” was completely evacuated. Later, the agency reported 27 missing servicemen. In November 2022, a court in annexed Sevastopol declared 17 Russian sailors dead. The exact number of military casualties on “Moscow” is still unknown.