The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video on Saturday presented as showing a meeting between the chief of the navy and survivors of the cruiser Moskva which sank in the Black Sea.
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In this video of about thirty seconds, we see a few dozen men in sailor uniforms lined up at attention in front of the chief of the navy Nikolaï Yévménov.
“Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov and Commander of the Black Sea Fleet met with the crew of the cruiser Moskva in Sevastopol,” the ministry said in a brief statement.
The admiral “informed the crew of the cruiser that officers, midshipmen and sailors would continue to serve in the navy,” he added.
These are the first images on which we can see suspected members of the crew of the Moskva since its sinking on Thursday.
Russia claims that this flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet sank following a fire caused by the explosion of munitions. Ukraine claims to have sunk it with missiles.
The broadcast of the video on Saturday came at a time when many experts and Internet users were wondering about the fate of the Moskva crew members.
Russia assured that the crew had been evacuated before the sinking, without reporting any casualties.