Russia blamed the United States for a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula. The attack, carried out with five U.S.-supplied missiles, killed four people, including two children, and injured 151 more.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence systems shot down four of the U.S.-delivered Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, equipped with cluster warheads. The fifth missile detonated in mid-air, according to Reuters.
Russian-installed authorities in Crimea reported that missile fragments fell near a Sevastopol beach around noon while locals were on holiday. The incident provoked a strong reaction from Russian public figures. The Defence Ministry claimed that U.S. specialists set the missiles’ coordinates using information from U.S. spy satellites, making Washington directly responsible.
“Responsibility for the deliberate missile attack on the civilians of Sevastopol is borne above all by Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, and by the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this strike was carried out,” the ministry said.
It is worth noting that Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and now views the Black Sea peninsula as an integral part of its territory. However, most of the world still considers it part of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in what he cast as a defensive move against the West. Ukraine and the West view it as an imperial-style war. Earlier this year, the United States began supplying Ukraine with longer-range ATACMS missiles. Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports from either side.
Treating Injured
Russian-installed Sevastopol Governor Mihail Razvozhaev reported four deaths and 144 injuries, with 82 hospitalized. Among the injured were 27 children. Moreover, specialist doctors were being flown in from other parts of Russia.
The Defence Ministry said Russia would respond to Sunday’s attack but did not provide details. The Kremlin said Putin had been “in constant contact with the military” since the attack.
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council and a leading voice among Russian hawks, described the incident as “a vile, despicable act against our people”.
He likened it to attacks carried out by gunmen on Sunday against a synagogue, a church and police post in Dagestan and said there was “no difference to us” between the U.S. administration, Ukrainian leaders and “crazy fanatics”.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a prominent supporter of the invasion, said there “was no justification whatsoever for a missile strike on civilians” and expressed indignation that the incident occurred on the Orthodox holiday of Trinity.
Neither Ukraine nor the United States has commented on the attack. It occurred on the same day Ukraine reported one person killed and ten others wounded by Russian strikes in Kharkiv.
Putin has accused the U.S. of using Ukraine to threaten Russia’s security, which Kyiv and its Western allies deny. He has warned of increasing risks of a direct confrontation between Moscow and NATO.
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