Unconfirmed photos of a stricken Russian warship - allegedly the sunken Moskva - are circulating on social media, APA reports citing BBC.
The Moskva was an important part of Russia's naval strategy in Ukraine - a 510-crew warship that was the third-largest in Moscow's active fleet, armed with an array of anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, as well as heavy defenses.
So when Ukraine said it had sunk the Moskva using its Neptune missiles, the news was seen as a big win and symbolically important.
But Russia has a different version of events. It claims that an ammunition explosion aboard caused a fire, and the ship sank while being towed back to port. Russia also says the entire crew was safely evacuated. It published a video on Saturday it said showed some of the crew safe and sound.
US officials back Ukraine's version of the story.
And on Sunday, a report from Novaya Gazeta Europe newspaper suggested that about 40 sailors may have been killed, several are missing and many others wounded.
In an interview with the mother of a sailor, it said was aboard, the newspaper said her son had told her by phone that the ship was hit by three missiles from land.
"He called me and was crying because of what he had seen. It was terrifying," she said, adding that she herself was terrified of having to wait for him to finish his service.
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