Forces have struck the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused “serious damage,” the governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region, Maksym Marchenko, says.

Moskva is the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

“It was confirmed that the missile cruiser "Moskva" today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island! Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!” Marchenko said on Telegram, referring to an incident in February where Ukrainian troops told a Russian warship to go in a profanity-laced message.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the ship was damaged on Wednesday (local time), but not that it was hit by Ukraine.

The Ministry says ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire – whose causes “were being established” – and the Moskva’s entire crew was evacuated.

The 182-metre-long warship, whose name means ‘Moscow” in Russian, originally joined Russia’s fleet in the early eighties under the name Slava, before a refit in 2000 in which it was given its current name.

Odesa is Ukraine’s biggest port.