Ukrainian soldiers on the Black Sea coast have hailed a ‘great victory’ for their military after the sinking of Russia’s flagship cruiser.

Valentyn Ilchuk and his comrades kept updated on Metro.co.uk today as further details of the ‘huge blow’ to Vladimir Putin emerged.

The Moskva was lost in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa in what officials for the embattled nation said was a strike by two anti-ship missiles.

Moscow claimed a fire had broken out on the 12,500-ton, 600ft guided-missile cruiser, causing it to sink while being towed in stormy conditions.

On the first day of the invasion, the ship was told to ‘go f*** yourself’ when its crew laid down an ultimatum to Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island.

A British military analyst told Metro.co.uk that ‘nobody believes Russia’s story’ about an ammunition detonation and ‘the curse of Snake Island’ had returned to haunt the Russian president.

Ukrainian officials said the Slava-class cruiser was hit by Neptune anti-ship missiles, which were designed by their military as a result of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Mr Ilchuk, who is serving with a military task force in the shipbuilding city of Mykolaiv, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are absolutely happy, excited and proud of what really is a great victory. We’re all kinds of psyched.

‘So far the Russian fleet has been pretty much invincible out at sea unless the ships have been coming close to our shores.

‘They were incredibly proud of their flagship, it was the biggest and most technologically advanced thing for them, despite the fact it was built way back in the day. The fact that it was hit by Ukrainian-made missiles turns another page of the war and shows the capabilities we have.

‘The Ruskies will have to be significantly more careful with their fleet in the Black Sea, because we have shown we are capable of shooting them down.

‘This is before we get to unpack the Harpoons [anti-ship missiles] you guys gave us. So when we deploy those on the shore, it’s going to be a completely different story on the Black Sea.’

The infantryman first heard the news on Wednesday night but initially treated it with mistrust due to the profusion of misinformation and propaganda circulating online. In the following hours, Ukraine’s military said the cruiser, which was launched in 1979, had started to sink after being severely damaged by the missile strike.

Mr Illchuk, 38, finally had confirmation from a Russian talk show, where it was said that Ukrainian cruise missiles had taken the ship out of action.

He kept up to date today with Metro.co.uk reporting on the Kremlin finally admitting that the pride of its Black Sea fleet had been lost.

Speaking as artillery fire sounded in the background, Mr Ilchuk said: ‘At first we were excited, then we wanted proper confirmation.

‘The show was obviously for an internal audience but we were laughing because I don’t really see what else Russia can bring to the table unless we are talking about weapons of mass destruction.

‘We all thought it was amazing. Everybody is excited, it’s a great boost of morale, it proves that we are capable of great things.

‘It’s definitely reason to celebrate but no reason to go and party our arses off, it’s just one battle and we still have work to do.’

The father-of-one, originally from the outskirts of Kyiv, told Metro.co.uk that sources had confirmed to him that the ship was hit in a Ukrainian military operation also involving a Turkish Bayraktar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

‘It was our Neptunes, it was our rockets,’ he said.

‘A couple of sources I personally know have said it was a more complex operation than just missiles. A Bayraktar was sent to the warship initially, it was hit by the UAV to take care of anti-aircraft defence.

‘Then, when it was blinded, when it was deaf, that was when two missiles flew in and hit the ship. The reason they sent two missiles is that the first one is usually taken down by the ship’s anti-aircraft and rockets systems and the second one flies in and hits the thing.

‘But because we did a bit of preparation beforehand it looks like both of the missiles hit the target and the target didn’t like it much.’

Mr Illchuck and his comrades are veterans of the Donbass conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014, who had taken up civilian roles before mobilising when Russian forces invaded on February 24.

The digital agency boss previously told how he took part in an operation to liberate a village to the north of Kyiv, where he found himself faced with a Russian tank around 100 metres away.

Along with the stalled advance on the capital, the Moskva’s fate has been among a series of blows to the Kremlin’s war machine.

On the first day of the invasion, the ship had targeted Snake Island, where Ukrainian border guards had responded: ‘Russian warship, go f*** yourself.’

The 19 servicemen at the strategic Black Sea outpost were first thought to have been killed but they were later freed in a prisoner swap.

Another Russian ship, the Orsk, was then said last month by Ukraine to have been destroyed at the port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov.

The Kremlin’s defence ministry initially said a fire had been brought under control on the Moskva and it was being towed into port, having not suffered any casualties and with 500 crew evacuated.

However, officials were later forced to accept the ship had sunk.

Western military analysts have described the sinking of the ship as a massive setback for Moscow, regardless of how the damage was inflicted.

Former British Army officer Alex Cooper said: ‘The sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship is a huge blow to Russian prestige and a further setback to Putin’s military adventures in the region.

‘With Turkish control of the Bosphorus straits, it is unlikely that the Moskva can be replaced, leaving Russia with no surface ship bigger than a frigate in the Black Sea. With the earlier loss of the tank landing ship Orsk to Ukrainian action in March, Admiral Osipov, the fleet’s commander, must be dreading his next conference call with Moscow.’

Mr Cooper backed up the serviceman’s account of a sophisticated operation carried out by the Ukrainian military.

He said: ‘Allegedly, the Ukrainians teased the Moskva’s powerful, but 180-degree, air defence radar with a drone and then fired two Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles from the other direction. The Neptune is based on a Soviet design but has been upgraded significantly by Ukraine. 

‘Nobody believes Russia’s story about an accidental fire onboard, although that hardly casts the Russian Navy in a positive light; in any event, the curse of the defenders of Snake Island seems to have landed.

‘The chickens of Russia’s mismanagement, corruption and arrogance are very much coming home to roost.

‘The irony of the Moskva, a Ukrainian-built ship, created for the USSR, sunk by a modified Russian missile, is breathtaking.’

Russia responded to the loss of its prestige ship by launching its first major rocket attacks on Kyiv since pulling its forces back from the northern approaches to the capital two weeks ago.

Explosions were also reported in other towns and cities across Ukraine in apparent retaliation for the loss of the Moskva.

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