>>16145864 (pb)
>Might Russia have sunk the ship themselves to prevent [them] from using the harbor?
FFS, ya think they might have used a ship other than the Flagship of the entire operation? The optics alone outweigh any gain from your theory. Moar likely SAS commando raid. There was no evidence of a missile strike, e.g., torn, twisted and gaping plate steel. Just soot, smoke blackening around designed openings amid ships above the waterline. Those were internal explosions with shaped charges inwards, not outwards.
It would have also provided a great distraction while attempting to extract NATO VIPs from Mariupol.