MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday that the United States was responsible for a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with five US-supplied missiles that killed at least five people including three children. At least 124 people were injured, including 27 children, five of whom are in a serious condition.
Russian defence ministry said four of the US-delivered Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, equipped with cluster warheads, were shot down by air defence systems and the ammunition of a fifth had detonated in mid-air.The ministry said US specialists had set the missiles’ flight coordinates on the basis of information from US spy satellites, meaning Washington was 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 US began supplying Ukraine with longer range ATACMS missiles, which have a 300-km range, earlier this year. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports from either side. Footage on Russian state TV showed people running from a beach and some being carried off on sun loungers. Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said missile fragments had fallen just after noon near a beach in Sevastopol where locals were holidaying.
Russia will respond to Sunday’s attack, the ministry said, without elaborating. Kremlin said Prez Vladimir Putin has been “in constant contact with the military” since the attack.
Neither Ukraine nor the US has commented on the attack, which came on a day when Ukraine said one person had been killed and 10 others wounded by Russian strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Russian defence ministry said four of the US-delivered Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, equipped with cluster warheads, were shot down by air defence systems and the ammunition of a fifth had detonated in mid-air.The ministry said US specialists had set the missiles’ flight coordinates on the basis of information from US spy satellites, meaning Washington was 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 US began supplying Ukraine with longer range ATACMS missiles, which have a 300-km range, earlier this year. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports from either side. Footage on Russian state TV showed people running from a beach and some being carried off on sun loungers. Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said missile fragments had fallen just after noon near a beach in Sevastopol where locals were holidaying.
Russia will respond to Sunday’s attack, the ministry said, without elaborating. Kremlin said Prez Vladimir Putin has been “in constant contact with the military” since the attack.
Neither Ukraine nor the US has commented on the attack, which came on a day when Ukraine said one person had been killed and 10 others wounded by Russian strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.