Russia now says 1 crew member died, 27 are missing in the sinking of its warship

The Russian missile cruiser that was damaged in a fire on April 14 was hit and ultimately sunk by Ukrainian missile strikes, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed the following day. Russia and Ukraine have offered differing accounts of what happened to the Moskva.

On April 22, the Russian Defense Ministry said one servicemen died and 27 more crew are missing. Initially, the ministry had said it had evacuated the entire crew from the vessel after ammunition exploded on board.

Russia's admission of missing crew follows the release of a short video by the military last weekend. In it, the head of Russia's navy met with what appeared to be about 100 servicemen from the Moskva. At the time of its sinking, the ship's crew was estimated at around 500.

The U.S. defense source confirmed that the ship was hit by two Neptune missiles and told NPR that casualties were likely.