Guards missile cruiser Moskva during exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 14 Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Black Sea Fleet's missile cruiser Moskva, on which the fire broke out, is afloat and heading east. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the cruiser remains buoyant. The fire occurred on the Moskva missile cruiser, as a result of which the ammunition detonated, the crew was completely evacuated, the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier. According to the latest information from the agency, the source of the fire has been contained, there is no open burning, the main missile armament is not damaged, and measures are being taken to tow the ship to the port. Moskva's missile armament was not damaged. «We know the ship is capable of going under its own power. We think it's heading east,» Kirby said on MSNBC. «We know there was an explosion on the ship. Based on the pictures we've seen, we can conclude that the explosion was quite strong. We don't know what exactly provoked it,» he added. According to Kirby, according to one of versions, the ship could have been hit by a Ukrainian missile, but the US military is not ready to confirm this due to lack of available data. «We can't rule it out, we just don't have enough information,» Kirby said.
