Ukraine's new missile sank the biggest warship in combat since WWII

The Russian Black Fleet flagship, Moskva, was hit by a new type of Ukrainian missile, according to a senior U.S. defense official who briefed reporters on Friday. The Moskva was damaged in a fire.

A senior U.S. defense official said the ship was hit by at least one Neptune missile and that there are likely casualties. There are injuries and deaths that are not publicly known.

This would be the first use of the Neptune missile system and the most significant naval strike in the war against Russia.

The first domestically-made medium-range cruise missile for Ukraine is the Neptune. It is an update of the Soviet-era KH-25 missile, which could only be fired from ships and planes, and was modified to be fired from truck-mounted launchers at targets on land and sea. It has a range of around 200 miles and is designed to target warships.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the final tests of the Neptune were carried out in February, as the war broke out, but Ukrainian officials were doubtful of the missile system's readiness.

Russia has superior naval capability in the Black Sea, and officials hoped the Neptune would level the playing field by raising the cost of shelling vulnerable coastal cities.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Neptune allows the Ukrainians to hit any target within their territorial waters.

According to the Wall Street Journal in February, the purpose of this is to block the capabilities of the Russians if they try to attack.

Since World War II, the Moskva has been lost in combat. The Argentine light cruiser General Belgrano was torpedoed by a Royal Navy submarine in 1982 and is the closest ship to the Moskva.

According to the state-run news agency, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday that the flagship was still floating and that the cause of the fire was yet to be established. There are questions about the sequence of events that led to the sinking of the ship, with some suggesting that the explosions may have caused the flooding of the crew.

The biggest defeat of the Russian Navy since World War II was praised by Oleksiy Arestovych, a Ukrainian presidential adviser.