Despite reports of hundreds of Russians sailors missing after the sinking of the Russian guided-missile cruise Moskva, the Kremlin released a video showing survivors.
The video even showed the Moskva captain who had been reportedly killed, The Sun reported Saturday.
The video reportedly showed the Russian navy chief meeting with the Moskva surviving crew in Sevastopol while hundreds of shipmen are allegedly still missing. In the meeting shown on video, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, 60, who had been reported to have gone down with his ship, was addressing naval officers and seamen.
"The crew of Moskva cruiser is at the main base, hero city of Sevastopol," Yevmenov reportedly says in the video. "Officers, midshipmen, contract personnel will continue service in the Navy."
He added conscript sailors on the Moskva – those drafted to serve – would be relieved of their duty in the future – although Vladimir Putin has claimed his military was not using conscripts in its "special military operation" with Ukraine.
"Compulsory service personnel, in line with the law, will be released from May to July, and will leave to be put on military register," Yevmenov added, according to the report.
Verification of the timing, location, or authenticity of the video was not able to be confirmed by The Sun or other media.
The Moskva sank Thursday after Ukraine was alleged to have hit it with missiles, targeting the vessel in the Black Sea because it was the location of missile launches against Ukraine's southern cities.
There were reportedly 510 on board, but Russia claims the Moskva sank being towed after a fire broke out when munitions on the ship caught fire.
"All the crew of the cruiser Moskva died," Ukraine's government in Kyiv claimed, while Russia claimed the crew was evacuated and taken to the Sevastopol port.
The claim of total deaths of the crew was already challenged by reports a Turkish ship rescued more than 50 Russian sailors from the ship.
Also, allegedly in the video, was someone who "resembled 1st rank Captain Anton Kuprin, commander of the Moskva," according to the report.
The Sun's review of the video noted the line up of the survivors was done to create the impression of large numbers of survivors. Also, there were no references in the meeting to casualties.
The city of Sevastopol, however, held a vigil Friday, holding prayers for lost sailors, according to The Sun.
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.
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