‘Massive blow for Russian credibility’: Sunk warship is a symbolic, tactical win for Ukraine

While Russia and Ukraine differed on the exact cause of the major explosion that sank a Russian battleship in the Black Sea on Thursday, the incident was a massive blow to the Kremlin’s pride and looked set to undermine the country’s naval operations in the region.

Ukrainian defense officials said their forces struck the Moskva, a cruiser, with two missiles. Russia said it was an internal munitions fire that forced the evacuation of the crew from its flagship in the Black Sea.

While Ukraine’s military claimed the Russian ship leading the blockade of the Black Sea...