Russia has blamed Washington for the deadly attack on a strategic port in occupied Crimea on Sunday, claiming US-supplied missiles were used in the attack. The attack left at least four dead and more than 150 injured in one of the biggest attacks on the peninsula annexed by Russia in recent months.
The Russian Defense Ministry said four U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets were intercepted over the city of Sevastopol, but fragments from the fifth rocket led to “numerous civilian casualties” on the ground.
“All flight missions of the American ATACMS tactical-operational missiles are carried out by American specialists based in their own satellite reconnaissance data,” the ministry said in a statement. “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 Kiev regime, from whose territory this attack was launched.”
NBC News was unable to independently confirm what type of weapons were used in the attack. The U.S. has been providing military aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, which began in February 2022. The Biden administration recently gave Ukraine permission to use American weapons to attack inside Russia, two U.S. officials told NBC News.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and considers it part of Russia, although it continues to be internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory.
“Such actions will not go unanswered,” the ministry added.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow’s sworn city governor, said two children were among the dead and that 151 people were injured, of whom 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 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 the Kiev authorities of attacking “on the sly”, at a time when many residents were returning from church and celebrations of the Orthodox holiday of the Holy Trinity or were at the beach with their children.
His deputy, Alexander Kulagin, also told Russian state news agency Tass that many of the injured were on the beach during the attack.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said doctors were being sent from the capital to provide all necessary assistance and that Moscow clinics were ready to receive victims. Some patients would be flown to Moscow for treatment, Razvozhayev said on Monday.
Tass reported on Monday that Razvozhayev also introduced a regional state of emergency in Sevastopol following the attack.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv. The country’s Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and military authorities did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the attack “an act of terrorism” carried out with US weapons that should be condemned by the United Nations. The Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the incident was “a barbaric and unscrupulous terrorist attack.”
Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the attack.
Also on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities responded with terrorism charges against civilians, reporting the latest deadly Russian attack on the border city of Kharkiv.
Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russia continued to attack the city’s civilian infrastructure with aerial bombs. Sunday’s attacks killed one person and injured 11, Syniehubov said, adding that the latest attack left part of Kharkiv without power, shutting down the metro in the country’s second-largest city.
It comes just a day after three people were killed and 41 injured in another attack in Kharkiv that damaged a five-story residential building, according to Syniehubov.
Abigail Williams contributed.
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