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Russia Blames US for Deadly Ukrainian Missile Attack

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  June 24, 2024 9:30 AM

Russia blamed the United States on Sunday for a strike on an occupied Crimean port that killed at least four people, including two children, and injured more than 150 others. 

Four U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile System rockets were intercepted over Sevastopol, but shrapnel from the fifth rocket rained down on beachgoers.

“All flight missions for the American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles are entered by American specialists based on U.S.’ own satellite reconnaissance data,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, reports NBC News. “Therefore, responsibility for the deliberate missile attack on civilians in Sevastopol lies primarily with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, as well as the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this attack was launched.”

Last month, the Biden administration gave Ukraine authorization to use American-made weapons for limited strikes within Russia.

The ministry noted that "such actions will not go unanswered." 

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Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and considers it part of Russia, though it remains internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory. [...]

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Moscow-installed governor, said two children were among the dead and that 151 people were injured, of which more than 80 were hospitalized.

The governor declared Monday a day of mourning in the city and said he has been visiting the injured in the hospitals. Russian President Vladimir Putin called him immediately after the attack and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, Razvozhayev added.

The governor accused Kyiv authorities of striking “on the sly” at a time when many residents were returning from church and the celebrations of the Orthodox holiday of Holy Trinity or were on the beach with their children. (NBC News)