Hours after Ukranian state media claimed Russian capital ship Moskva (Moscow) had been hit by two missiles, the Russian state confirmed a fire onboard the cruiser had ignited stowed ammunition inflicting “serious damage”.

While the report from Russian state media outlet TASS fell short of acknowledging an attack had taken place, the admission that “A fire and subsequent broadside munitions blast have done serious damage to the Moskva missile cruiser” hours after Ukraine had claimed an attack on the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet at least confirms the ship has sustained serious damage.

The main armament of the Cold War-era Moskva cruiser is two enormous banks of anti-ship missiles, an unconventional design that gives the ship an easily recognisable layout above deck level. While the report from TASS that: “A fire onboard the Moskva missile cruiser caused a blast of the broadside munitions. The ship received serious damage” may imply it was this armament that blew up, a subsequent TASS report Thursday morning insisted the ship’s main armament was undamaged.