The Neptune cruise missile that severely damaged a Russian warship

Ukraine claimed to have severely damaged the Russian Black Sea Fleet Flagship ‘Moskva’ off the coast of Odessa via a missile strike on the ship.

What is the type of cruise missile that hit the Moskva?

• The Ukrainians claim that the Moskva was hit by two anti-ship cruise missiles called the Neptune. Ironically, the design of this missile is based on a Russian Kh-35 cruise missile which goes by the NATO name of AS-20 Kayak.
• The Neptune Missile system was inducted into the Ukrainian Defence Forces in March 2021 after being in development for around six years.
• The cruise missile was developed in haste by the military as the Russian threat to the coastal areas of Ukraine was growing rapidly since the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
• According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Neptune is a coastal anti-ship cruise missile which is capable of destruction of naval vessels in a range of about 300 km.
  

About Moskva, the ship that was hit by the missile:

• Moskva is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy named after the city of Moscow.
• It has a displacement of 12,490 tons.
• It is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and carries a crew of around 500 personnel.
• The Moskva was originally commissioned as the Slava in 1983.
• It was recommissioned in 2000 as the Moskva with refurbished weapon systems and electronics.