Should India insist on large warships after sinking of Russia’s Moskva? The lesson not to take

On 14 April, Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, sank off the coast of Ukraine, in the Black Sea. A controversy immediately surfaced regarding the causes of the loss. The Russians attributed the loss to an accidental fire on board while Ukraine claimed that two of its Neptune Missiles had struck the vessel. US officials have backed Ukraine’s claims. Time should reveal the truth. But for now, the controversy is the poster for the escalation of the Ukraine war that suggests that the war is expanding in its reach, both physically and psychologically. The challenge in judging escalation is that while physical factors can be measured, the intangible nature of the psychological part is mystifying and debatable.