Keystone-SDA
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June 24, 2024 – 03:20
(Keystone-ATS) Russia on Sunday accused the United States of having “responsibility” for a Ukrainian strike that killed four people and injured more than a hundred others in Crimea. The attack was allegedly carried out with American ATACMS missiles supplied to kyiv.
“Responsibility for the deliberate missile strike against civilians in Sevastopol (city in Crimea, editor’s note) lies primarily with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine” as well as with the Kiev authorities, said the Russian ministry. of Defense in a press release. “Such actions will not go unanswered,” he added.
According to the Russian army, five ATACMS missiles were sent by Ukrainian forces, four of which were “intercepted”.
The flight missions of these missiles are “seized by American specialists on the basis of data from United States satellite intelligence services,” assured the Russian ministry to justify its accusations.
In April, Washington announced that it had sent longer-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, which had long requested them in order to be able to strike further behind the front line.
Neither Ukraine nor the United States have yet commented on the Sevastopol strike.
Attack on a “coastal zone”
The ballistic missile attack left five dead, including three children, and around a hundred injured on Sunday, announced the governor installed by Moscow, Mikhail Razvojaïev.
Five other children are in intensive care at the hospital, he said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
The official said President Vladimir Putin had called to “express his condolences” to the families.
The Ukrainian army “hit Sevastopol in broad daylight with ballistic missiles with cluster munitions,” he said earlier. According to him, “debris” from downed missiles “fell on coastal areas”.
Videos, published by Russian media, show residents on a beach fleeing when they hear explosions. AFP is unable to verify its authenticity.
Sevastopol, a large port city, is often targeted, particularly because it is home to the headquarters of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.
Crimea constitutes an important logistical node for the Russian army.
Ukraine, faced with the Russian offensive for two years, regularly responds by attacking Russian regions or occupied zones. His troops notably attempt to destroy Russian warships, and regularly succeed.
“Increase the pressure”
At the same time, Russian strikes left one dead and ten injured, including two teenagers, on Sunday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, according to regional governor Oleg Synegoubov.
The day before, other attacks using guided aerial bombs had already left two dead and around fifty injured, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
Kharkiv, very close to the Russian border, is very regularly bombed. Russia still denies targeting civilian targets in Ukraine and assures that it only attacks structures linked to the army.
The city is partially without electricity and its metro is “at a standstill,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, again calling for the delivery of air defense systems.
Earlier, he said his forces had shot down two more Russian Kalibr-type missiles. “Russian terror is not slowing down, so we must increase the pressure,” he warned.
“We have the determination to destroy terrorists on their territory – it is only fair – and we need our allies to share it,” he said.
Targets in Russia
At the end of May, Washington accepted that the Ukrainians would use American weapons to strike, in certain cases, military targets on Russian territory close to this area.
This decision followed the launch, in early May, of a surprise ground offensive by Russia in the Kharkiv region, where fighting remains violent.
On Russian soil, Ukrainian drone attacks left one dead and three injured in Graivoron, a town in the Russian border region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday.
The Belgorod region is regularly the target of Ukrainian strikes, with kyiv claiming to defend itself from Russian attacks on its own territory.
