Russia blamed the United States and vowed “consequences” for Ukraine’s missile attack on occupied Sevastopol in Crimea on Sunday, which officials said killed four people, including two children.
Fragments of the missile fell on a nearby beach, injuring about 150 people.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the missiles used by Ukraine were ATACMS missiles provided by the United States and claimed that they were programmed by American experts.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack “barbaric” and accused the United States of “killing Russian children.”
He pointed to comments by President Vladimir Putin, who recently vowed to target countries that provide weapons to Ukraine.
Moscow said Sunday’s deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris after Russian air defenses in Crimea intercepted five missiles armed with cluster warheads launched by Ukrainian forces.
Footage broadcast by Russian state television showed chaos on the beach in the Uchkuyevka region as people fled falling debris and some injured people were taken away on deck chairs.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that all ATACMS missiles were programmed by American experts and guided by American satellites.
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council told the BBC: “Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions and conducts its own military operations.”
The United States has been supplying ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for more than a year. The system allows Ukrainian forces to strike targets up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Moscow illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, and only a handful of countries recognize the peninsula as Russian territory. Therefore, this does not fall within the U.S. demand that Ukraine not use weapons provided by Washington to attack Russian territory.
But Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday that “the intervention of the United States, the direct intervention that resulted in the death of Russian civilians, cannot be without consequences.”
“Time will tell what these will be,” he added.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy on Monday and later issued a statement accusing the U.S. of participating in “atrocities” and vowing “no impunity.”
Moscow has repeatedly threatened to target countries that provide arms to Ukraine, claiming they are legitimate military targets.
“We know very well who is behind this,” Peskov told reporters on Monday.
“[Mr Putin] Just last week we discussed who is targeting these absolutely technologically sophisticated missiles and who is delivering these launches. These people are not Ukrainians.
Earlier this month, Putin repeated his threats during an interview with the international press.
“If someone thinks it is possible to provide such weapons to war zones to attack our territory and cause trouble for us, why do we not have the right to provide similar weapons to areas of the world where attacks will occur on sensitive facilities in those (Western) countries?” he said. .
“That said, the response may be asymmetric. We will take that into account,” he added.
After the attack, Ukrainian officials defended the attack, saying Crimea was a legitimate target.
Mikhailo Podoljak, a top aide to President Zelenskyy, said the peninsula was actually “a large military camp,” saying there were “hundreds of direct military targets” that the Russians were cynically trying to use. own civilians to hide and cover these targets.”
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says at least 10,000 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
