FURIOUS Yesterday, Kremlin stooges declared that the sinking of its Black Sea flagship had ignited World War Three – and began a savage retaliation.

Hundreds of sailors were thought to have killed during a deadly missile strike on the 12,500-ton Moskva.

There have been rumours that the missiles were supplied by Nato backers of Ukraine, and Britain has given anti-ship armaments.

According to accounts, the Slava-class cruiser was sunk by Neptune missiles built in Ukraine after her radar was diverted by a Byraktar drone made in Turkey.

The Russian navy has not lost a flagship since the battleship Knyaz Suvorov was sunk by Japan during the 1905 war.

It was also the largest battleship lost since the Second World War.

“It may safely be dubbed World War Three,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Olga Skabeyeva stated on the state-run Rossiya 1 TV channel. That is beyond a doubt.

“We are unquestionably targeting NATO infrastructure, if not NATO itself.” That is something we must acknowledge.”

According to military analyst Dmitry Drozdenko, “a full-scale multi-level battle with the collective West is underway.”

The Russian war machine responded by launching cruise missiles against a plant in Kyiv’s outskirts that manufactures and maintains Neptune weaponry.

Long-range bombers also joined the shelling of the beleaguered port city of Mariupol for the first time.

Trapped residents said that Russian soldiers were digging up remains and refusing to allow new burials.

“Why the exhumation is being conducted out and where the remains will be moved is unknown,” the municipal council said in a statement.

According to authorities, Russian soldiers fired an evacuation bus in rural Kharkiv, killing at least 27 passengers.

The Moskva raid, which was a great humiliation for Kremlin warlords, was a huge morale booster for Ukraine’s ardent troops.

Oleksii Reznikov, the Defense Minister and a scuba diver, tweeted: “We now have one additional diving destination in the Black Sea.” Will undoubtedly pay a visit to the wreck following our triumph in the war.”

The 12,5000-ton Moskva was armed with 16 Vulcan anti-ship missiles capable of carrying nuclear bombs, but there was no proof of nukes onboard when she went down.

Its primary mission in the Black Sea was to command other warships and protect them from air assaults with its 64 S-300 air-defense missiles.

Ukraine reported that the skipper of the ship, Anton Kuprin, 44, was killed in a “explosion and fire on board.”

In the immediate wake of Wednesday’s assault, at least four more Russian vessels retreated from the shore.

Russia first claimed that the ship was struck by a deck fire, igniting its munitions.

It was eventually revealed that the cruise ship had sunk in a storm while being hauled to a port in Crimea.

‘SOS’ SIGNAL

According to an early report, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anuauskash stated the Moskva sent out a “SOS” signal at 1:05 a.m. on Thursday.

Ten minutes later, it began to list, and half an hour later, “all the electricity went out,” he stated.

“As of 2 a.m., a Turkish ship rescued 54 sailors from the cruiser, and by 3 a.m., Turkey and Romania reported that the ship had fully sunk,” he continued.

With 485 passengers onboard at the time, including 66 military, he added Russian losses were “not yet known.”

Russia stated the crew was instructed to abandon ship, and official news agency TASS reported that survivors were transferred to the Russian base in Crimea, Savastopol, but did not specify how many.

The ship was scheduled to service for an unprecedented 60 years, until 2040.
Meanwhile, the Russian blitz continued.

Heavy artillery and rocket attacks pounded Kharkiv, setting at least three homes on fire in the city’s botanical park, a mile from the city centre.

Helena Rukash, 50, and her 14-year-old daughter Polina had fled to the area, believing it to be safer than their flat in the bombed-out Saltivka district.

They were staying in a two-story house with her husband Pavel and her 83-year-old father Alexander.

“We heard an explosion and the whole house shook,” Helena explained.

“We went down to the cellar, but we smelled fire and had to take our chances outside.”

As the flames spread to a neighbouring home, Polina managed to save her pet hamster Homer.

A second rocket landed around 50 metres away, engulfing a neighbor’s garage in flames.

“I have lived here my entire life,” said Nikolai Zmii, 85. Look at my house, which I made with my own hands.

“I have a basement in my house.” “I believed it was safe, but nothing is anymore.”