One of Russia's Black Sea Fleet naval officers has been arrested after the sinking of the Moskva guided-missile cruiser this week.
Adm. Igor Osipov was reportedly arrested by people in civilian clothes and taken into custody, eyewitnesses claim, according to Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets on Telegram.
Osipov reportedly was on record for having been the official that last checked the Moskva's readiness for potential missile strikes as recently as February 2022, Dialog.UA reported.
The United States believes the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune antiship missiles, a senior U.S. official said Friday.
Thus far, Russian news agencies have only cited the defense ministry Thursday as saying Moskva sunk in stormy seas after what it said was a fire and explosions involving ammunition stowed onboard.
The arrest of Osipov after his claiming to have checked the Moskva's missile readiness has been pointed to as circumstantial evidence, and the Russian explanation for Moskva's sinking has been propaganda.
Also, after the sinking of the Moskva, Russian state television called the escalation and deaths of numerous Russian sailors as ostensibly the beginning of "World War III."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.