Moskva Survivor Puts Out Cryptic Social Media Post On Dead Sailor, Hesitates To Reveal More Info

Though Russia has acknowledged the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva, there were conflicting reports over the number of sailors who perished along with the warship. Adding to the discrepancies, a sailor, who was on board the ship when it sunk, has posted on social media about his rebirth.

Russian soldier Gleb Lemeshchenko took to the Russian social media platform VKontakte and shared how he managed to survive the incident when his colleague died in the attack, according to Radio Svoboda, the Russian language website of Radio Free Europe.

"April 13, 2022, is the death of the missile cruiser Moskva and my second birthday. My friend Leonid Savin died on this date," Lemeshchenko reportedly wrote on his VKontakte page. The post soon caught the attention of Savin's relatives, who still are clueless about his whereabouts.

According to Radio Svoboda, Savin's brother immediately got in touch with Lemeshchenko to find out the details surrounding his brother's disappearance. However, Lemeshchenko is said to have refused to reveal information, maintaining that he "was a military man" and "the country said to be silent."

The father of another missing sailor Yegor Shkrebets too heard about the post and contacted the serviceman. The report added that Lemeshchenko refused to reveal anything else before blocking the account of Shkrebets' relatives. Shkrebets was a cook aboard Moskva when it was reportedly struck. His father was later told by naval officers that his son was not dead but "missing."

Russia had announced after a week of the ship's sinking that "one serviceman died and more than two dozen others were missing." This acknowledgment came after much pressure from families who started a desperate search for their loved ones they said to have served the ship. More relatives began coming forward challenging Russia's initial statement that the entire crew was evacuated.

Recently, there were reports about a mother who went on record saying how she was misled by the Defense Department, who "informed" her that her son was safe. However, Grudinina was already informed by Moskva's deputy commander that her son Sergei, a 21-year-old sailor, had "gone missing." The family had not heard from Sergei since the day the ship sank and has received no update from the military since then.

Soon after, the Russian Defense Ministry published a video showing the meeting of Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, with the surviving crew members of Moskva.