Shocking images and video capture the burning Russia flagship Moskva before it sank

• The images and video show the ship tilting to its port side with large plumes of thick black smoke billowing upward.
• The Pentagon confirmed that the Moskva sunk after being hit with a Ukrainian missile.

New images show the Russian warship Moskva burning shortly before it sank into the Black Sea.

The images and video show the ship tilting to its port side with large plumes of black smoke billowing upward. Experts say the photos and video are of the Moskva, according to the Guardian, but their origin is unknown.

The Pentagon confirmed last week that Ukrainian forces sank the Moskva with at least one Neptune anti-sink missile on Thursday, lending credence to Ukrainian forces' version of events.

Russia and Ukraine agree that the Moskva was damaged after ammunition detonated on board, but have different accounts of what led to the ship's sinking. Russian officials claimed the ammunition exploded due to a fire on board whose cause was being investigated, while Ukrainian officials said it had struck the Moskva with Neptune anti-ship missiles causing "serious damage."

—Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 18, 2022

The Moskva weighed 12,000 tons and was more than 600 feet long, with a crew of 500. The sinking of the warship named for the Russian capital is a huge blow to Russian morale, and is unlikely to be easily explained away by Russian officials to their population.

Russia's defense ministry claimed on April 14 that all crew members had been evacuated from the ship, and the Pentagon saw Russian sailors leaving the damaged ship in lifeboats, according to the Washington Post. But the mother of one surviving sailor told the Novaya Gazeta Europe that about 40 people had died during the incident and many were wounded and missing, the Post reported.

"There are dead, there are wounded, there are missing. My son called me when they were given phones. They left their documents and [their personal] phones on the [ship]. He calls me and cries from what he saw. It was scary. It is clear that not everyone survived," the anonymous mother said.