On Thursday, the ministry said that the vessel, which had been damaged after ammunition explosion, sunk during stormy weather.
"The commander-in-chief of the navy, Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, and the Black Sea Fleet command had a meeting with the crew of the guided missile cruiser Moskva in Sevastopol. Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov informed the cruiser's crew that the officers, midshipmen and sailors will continue their service in the navy," the ministry said on Telegram.
Conscript crew members of Moskva will be retired to reserve from may to June in line with law, Yevmenov said in a separate statement on Russian television channel Zvezda.
The ship, whose initial name was "Slava," was laid down in Mykolaiv in 1976 and commissioned in 1983.