Dead bodies are being systematically removed from Russia's sunken cruiser Moskva in a top secret operation, according to reports.
It comes amid a new claim that young naval sailors were “left to drown” while “officers fled the ship like rats”.
The claim of a two-week salvage operation came from Ukrainian military intelligence which said up to seven vessels were involved.
The stricken Moskva, flagship of Vladimir Putin ’s Black Sea Fleet, was sunk on April 14 by a suspected Ukrainian Neptune missile strike.
"They retrieved the bodies, removed all the equipment that was classified, and cleansed this cruiser,” said Vadym Skibitskyi, spokesman for the Kyiv defence ministry’s main intelligence directorate.
“They took what wasn’t supposed to fall into the hands of a third country.”
Ishi Svoikh Telegram channel added: “It is completely unclear what happened to the bodies next.”
The latest claims confirmed an earlier Russian assertion that the holed vessel sank while under tow towards naval port Sevastopol.
The reported gruesome operation to retrieve the dead amid after rising fury from relatives of the crew over an alleged cover-up by the Russian authorities over the fate of many sailors, a large proportion of whom were conscripts.
So far Russia has admitted only to a death toll of one, yet in reality dozens and perhaps hundreds were either killed or are missing.
A father leading the campaign, Dmitry Shkrebets, 43, said: “There were no rescue efforts. Officers fled the ship like rats, the sailors were abandoned.”
He lost his son Yegor, 20, in the sinking. He vowed: “Putin will answer personally. He is used to lying.”
He told Putin: “You’ll answer! Want to know why there were no badly wounded survivors from the Moskva? Because they sank them together with the cruiser.
“They couldn’t tug the ship to Sevastopol, because everyone would realise what happened, so overnight from 13 to 14 April they pulled it further south, and sank it.
“This is the naked truth. The scary, awful truth, and I’ll prove it. The time will pass, and I’ll prove it. Look at the awful beasts we have as our authorities.”
He confirmed his son was a conscript who had not signed a contract as a career member of the navy, like many others on the vessel.
“The pain is unstoppable,” he said. “Were Yegor to have signed a contract, I would have been quiet, because that would mean he was trained and ready for war, but he didn’t, and there are so many like him.
“The circumstances of their death are horrendous, they were betrayed and left to die. And now the top military officers must be fired.
“The time will come, and I’ll publish a big investigation about what happened. I can say one thing right now: it is the highest ranks who are guilty in the death of the Moskva.
“There is betrayal and sloppiness there. I will say more about it later, if we live to see it. Our health got shaken by this because of the nerves. I am not the enemy to my country.”
Admiral Igor Osipov, 49, in charge of the Black Sea Fleet, has not been seen since his flagship Moskva sank, prompting rumours that he has been suspended or detained or was even on board.
But fleet sources say he remains at his desk but 'not in the mood' to attend events.
