In times of great turmoil, and war undoubtedly is, many events are given a magical, significant meaning by people. It is hard to think of a clearer sign from above than the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet's flagship, the cruiser Moskva.
One can be all-knowingly sarcastic about "omens", hints of fate and the like, appeal to "science" and say that they are but superstitions believed only by uneducated simpletons, but the legendary poker grandmaster Doyle Brunson puts the interaction between science and reality simply: "The world's greatest mathematicians could tell me all they want about probability theory, random chance and all that scientific stuff, but in my long life experience, I made all my millions playing poker when I was on the lucky streak, and when the black streak hit, I had to try to minimize my inevitable losses." In other words, probability theory is one thing (there is no doubt about its scientific accuracy), but real life is another thing, with its own inexplicable principles.
It is not difficult to explain the psychological (and totally unscientific) origins of so-called superstition, nor is it difficult to be arrogant about it, but it might be wiser to realize that we do not know everything about the order of the world. Perhaps we should not ignore what cannot be missed. There are so many significant moments in the sinking of the cruiser Moskva that it would be foolish to ignore them.
First of all, the very fact that the flagship of the fleet is being sunk. If the Orsk, a regular landing ship, was sunk in Berdyansk harbour, the Moskva is already the flagship of the fleet with the highest level of air defense. The Moskva's defenses are theoretically so high that it would be extremely difficult to sink it, even in a serious naval battle of equivalent size. The likelihood that the relatively light Neptune coastal missiles could not only damage the ship but even sink it is close to impossible. But that is exactly what happened.
To minimize the military humiliation, Russian propaganda circulated various alternative versions of the sinking, the most popular of which was a fire caused by improperly extinguished cigarette butt which caused the missiles on board to explode. Even if this version were true, it would not change the fact that the Moskva cruiser sank contrary to the principles of probability theory. Can anyone think of a case in which a warship even the size of a shoebox has sunk in war or peacetime because of a burning cigarette butt? It is absolutely inconceivable.
Secondly, the name of the cruiser should be mentioned. It is undoubtedly symbolic. In order to avoid such symbolic disasters, warships are usually not named after names which, in the event of sinking, might create unpleasant associations. The cruiser Moskva was also originally named Slava, but was renamed Moskva in 1996, with the participation of the then Mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov. Now the Moskva has sunk, and with it the long-cherished Russian imperialist dream of Moscow as a third Rome.
The third sign, which is perhaps the most mystical but no less symbolic, is the quite plausible story about the presence of a Christian relic on board - a wooden splinter from the cross on which Jesus Christ was once nailed. This relic was allegedly gifted to the ship in February 2020 by former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin with the blessing of the Orthodox Church. The splinter is said to be encased in a 19th-century metal cross, which is stored in a special shed. This relic was supposed to protect the ship, but the opposite happened: the ship, which was technically almost unsinkable, sank. This unlikely event, which is unlikely from the point of view of probability, can be explained simply: the sacred relic, having fallen in the hands of evil forces, helped stop this evil.
It is no less symbolic that at the very beginning of the hostilities it was from the cruiser Moskva that the call for the surrender of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island was made, to which the latter responded with the famous phrase "Russian warship - go f**k yourself!" Now this cruiser has arrived where the defenders of Snake Island sent it, reinforcing the conviction that the numerous coincidences show that the higher forces are not on Russia's side. If we are talking about coincidences, we cannot but mention that the Moskva sank exactly 110 years after the legendary Titanic - on the night of April 14-15.
The sinking of the cruiser Moskva inevitably brings to mind the disaster of Tsushima in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. Then, too, Emperor Nicholas II was keen on the idea of a "small, victorious war", but suffered an ignominious defeat as a result. On May 14 and 15, 1905, the Japanese fleet destroyed the Russian fleet in the Tsushima Strait. The short-term consequence of this destruction was the 1905 Revolution, and the long-term consequence was the catastrophe of 1917, the final phase of which we are now experiencing.
To sum up the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, it is this basic fact or fatal sign, however one might see it, that shows that Putin no longer has a chance of winning the war. Even in theory, because even if he were to achieve some goals in Ukraine, it would not mean that he would be able to live peacefully with the spoils of war, as if nothing had happened, with the rest of the world. The civilized world has decided to strangle the Putin regime not only economically, but also militarily.
To this end, the arsenal of weapons to be supplied to Ukraine is being significantly expanded, as announced this week not only by the US and the UK, but also by the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and other NATO countries. This means heavy combat equipment and artillery.
There is no going back to the old world order. The sinking of the cruiser Moskva was a clear signal of this irreversibility. As the change in the tone of the Russian blogosphere shows, this inevitability of losing the war is gradually dawning on the Russian public. This gives hope that the end of the war (and of the Putin regime) is not far off.
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