US Didn’t Expect Ukraine to Sink Moskva, Report Says

https://militarnyi.com/en/news/us-didn-t-expect-ukraine-to-sink-moskva-report-says/

by Mil_in_ua

19 comments

  1. I get sick and tired of hearing stories about the US or the West dictating what Ukraine may or may not do. They have been fighting a much more powerful opponent and they are told to tie one hand behind their back. Thankfully, they have risen to the occasion and shown what they are made of. It cannot be said any more that they are fighting a much more powerful opponent. Still Russia cannot be underestimated. The sinking of the flag ship “Moscow” was such a great and symbolic victory.

  3. No one did. That’s what made it a nice surprise – like a birthday present.

  5. This is one of those “ask forgiveness, not permission” scenarios. Bravo. 

  6. Fighting a war with one hand tied behind your back worked in Vietnam didn’t it

  7. Also surprised was Macron, who missed an opportunity to schedule an international conference in advance of her sinking.

  8. They didn’t expect to hold and push back the russians as well.

  11. “the Biden administration had not intended to **allow** Ukraine to carry out such strikes” WTF? **Allow** them to defend themselves? What exactly is Ukraine **allowed** to do then? Fuck off.

  12. Okay so this is what I pieced about the story (not the article)

    * The Moskva was beyond detection range of the Neptun/Neptune missile system.
    * Ukraine was only able to detect the ship due to an atmospheric ~~anomaly~~ phenomenon
    * There was no plan this was purely a target of opportunity
    * That unit of Ukraine’s Armed Forces notified command of the detection
    * The guy on the ground actually pulled the trigger without confirmation from command willing to take the potential court martial

    Needless to say… NO ONE expected this sort of target of opportunity. The Russian Navy was aware of the capabilities of the R-360 (Neptun) and thought they’re out of range but the rare ~~anomaly~~ phenomenon totally made it possible.

    This is a great story about luck, initiative and the values of West Military Officer training.

  13. If I was a Ukrainian national guardsman on the night of Putin’s invasion making my way to Hosmel airport, I probably would not have thought we could make it this far. The fact that the Ukrainians are still fighting is itself amazing. It is sad the Americans won’t get their act together and that the Europeans can’t (as of yet).

    I hope we all do get our act together – including South Korea. Now that Putin is actively supplying fuel and A-50 mainstay AWACS aircraft to the North Koreans, we should really take off the gloves and be shipping 155mm shells by the sh*tload to Ukraine so the Russians get a taste of what it feels to be on the receiving end of 10:1 fire ratio.

  14. Nothing in war is fair (excluding war crimes). The US doesn’t fight this way and we shouldn’t expect others to either.

  15. It’s interesting, to be sure, but it all checks out. Ukraine is able to conduct her own war. The US was always fearful of nuclear warfare. Again, interesting, but not groundbreaking. I certainly don’t see the problem with it being reported, although waiting for the war to be over may be more appropriate.

  16. [https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/03/30/7505253/](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/03/30/7505253/)

    Ukraine’s Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk has denied a report by The New York Times claiming that Ukraine received the coordinates of the cruiser Moskva from the United States and was expected to coordinate such strikes in advance.

    **Quote:** “The information you’ve just mentioned is not true. First and foremost, we did not receive any coordinates regarding the location of the cruiser Moskva, and the operation to destroy this flagship of the Black Sea Fleet was planned and executed entirely by the Navy alone.

  17. This is not America’s war. We give aid, but it’s not like we are the ones fighting Russia. Why should we (Americans) have a say on tactics or targets?

  18. The absolute stupidity of the Biden administration in hobbling Ukraine instead of giving them everything they could. Anthony Blinken and Jake Sullivan were worried about what Russia might do if they started to lose. They didn’t try to win. If anything is clear, the only response to Putin is to beat him.

    They should have been cheering when the Moskova was sunk.

  19. I mean… That’s pretty reasonable. This is more on Russians incompetence than anything else.

    No one would have expected Russia to operate their flagship in anti ship missile range.

    No one expected the Moskova to make zero attempt to intercept an attack that was well in its theoretical defensive capabilities.

    Even if it was hit, missiles the size of Neptune typically don’t cause enough damage to sink a ship the size of Moskova. Ships much smaller than Moskova have survived similar hits.

    No one expected the sheer incompetence of Russian damage control.

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