The operation to destroy the Russian cruiser "Moskva" in April 2022 was planned exclusively by the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU Navy) and did not have to be coordinated with anyone except the Ukrainian leadership. Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the AFU Navy, said this on the air of the telethon, UNN reports.
Details
In particular, he denied information from The New York Times that Ukraine allegedly received the coordinates of the missile cruiser from the United States and that it was expected to approve such strikes.
We, of course, coordinated the infliction of fire damage with the higher leadership, according to the chain of command. Having received the appropriate permission, and this, of course, was the Ukrainian leadership, we carried out this strike. Therefore, the information regarding coordination and providing accurate information about the location does not correspond to reality, as does the information regarding the need to coordinate it.
According to him, the situation in the Black and Azov Seas remains stable.
"And this, by the way, is also a consequence, among other things, of this operation, which at one time simply became another turning point," the AFU Navy spokesman summarized.
Context
Investigative correspondent Adam Entous reported in his article for The New York Times that after the Ukrainian military sank the missile cruiser "Moskva" on April 14, 2022, the Americans were furious and panicked. According to him, the US "was surprised that Ukraine had missiles capable of reaching the ship, and panicked because the Biden administration had no intention of allowing the Ukrainians to attack such a powerful symbol of Russian might.