Mother of killed Russian sailor says officials are leaving them in the dark about the cruiser sinking

The families of Russian sailors who were on the Black Sea fleet flagship, Moskva, say the Russian Ministry of Defense won't say what happened to the estimated 500 crew members.

Ukrainian officials said the ship was hit by Neptune anti-ship missiles and that a fire caused am munitions to explode. A senior U.S. defense official said on Friday that the ship had been hit by at least one Neptune missile and that there were likely casualties.

Russian authorities have not disclosed the number of dead, wounded or missing sailors, but at least four families have publicly said they have not been able to reach their sons who served aboard the Moskva.

The family of 19-year-old Andrei Tsyvova told The Guardian that he was a conscript.

The mother of Andrei Tsyvova told The Guardian that she was not told anything else.

Russia was forced to admit it sent conscripted soldiers to fight in the war against Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed they were not involved in the attack.

"Unfortunately, some facts have come to light about the presence of conscript servicemen among the Russian armed forces conducting the special military operation on Ukrainian territory," Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov said on March 9 that all of the conscripts have been returned to the Russian Federation.

On social media, another parent of a conscripted sailor wrote that he had been told his son was on the list of missing sailors.

A conscript who was not supposed to take part in hostilities is listed as missing.

The wife of Shkrebets told the Russian newspaper The Insider that she searched for their son in a military hospital where she saw around 200 injured sailors.

Shkrebets told the Insider that they looked at every burnt kid. There were more than 500 people on the cruiser. Where were the others?

The families spoke under the condition that they would not be targeted. The mother of one conscripted sailor told the Novaya Gazeta Europe that about 40 people had died and many were wounded and missing.

When my son called, he was crying. I never thought that in a peaceful time, I would end up in such a mess. I will not tell you in detail what I saw. The mother told Novaya Gazeta Europe that it was scary.

According to a report from the Washington Post, photos and videos show the Moskva burning before it sank into the Black Sea, and the Pentagon says videos show some Russian sailors leaving the damaged ship in lifeboats.

—Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 18, 2022