A Russian state TV presenter has expressed his fury over the sinking of the country’s warship Moskva demanding answers on how it managed to go down.

Russia-1 anchor Vladimir Solovyov, who has been sanctioned for his support of Putin, criticised the Navy over the incident during a nationwide broadcast.

He said: ‘I am furious about what happened to the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, Moskva. I am simply furious.

‘And yes, we say it was quite old and went through repairs, and, yes, this series of ships has vulnerabilities. I get it. 

‘But tell me this: how did you manage to lose it? Explain me, why the hell you were in that particular area of the Black Sea at that time?’

Mr Solovyov questioned why there was no system in place to mitigate chaos in the event of a fire.

He said: ‘I don’t care what exactly happened – if indeed [it was] the two Neptune missiles as the Ukrainians said. Since when was a combat ship scared of a missile strike, since it has a defence system? Was something not activated?

‘Even it it was hit with two missiles and it ignited the ammunition – what happened to your fire fighting system?’

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The Black Sea flagship, which is pivotal to Russia’s attack on southern Ukraine, sank while being towed to a port on April 14.

There are conflicting reports as to why the ship went down with Ukraine saying it was a missile strike and Moscow saying it had been damaged by a fire.

Despite Putin saying it was an accident, his supporters say Russia should get revenge anyway.

The sinking delivered a humiliating blow to Russia who has since said his soldiers would intensify long-range strikes in retaliation to unspecified acts of ‘sabotage’ and ‘terrorism’.

While it did not mention the sinking specifically, the announcement came hours after the incident was confirmed.

Russia head of navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, has since met with some of the crew of the Soviet-era ship and said they would continue to serve the maritime force.

The Russian defence ministry released a 26-second video of the meeting of the admiral and some 100 sailors but did not say when it took place.

Ukrainian officials claimed some servicemen aboard the cruiser had died, though provided no supporting evidence, while Russia said all 500 crew members were rescued.

The Moskva made headlines at the beginning of the war when a Ukrainian soldier was recorded telling its crew to ‘go f*** yourself’ after they threatened to shell Snake Island.

The flagship of the Black Sea fleet controlled much of Russia’s naval front, carrying out strikes on the port cities of Odesa and Mariupol.

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