Russia blames US for deadly Ukrainian attack on Crimea

MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday that the United States was responsible for a Ukrainian attack on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia with five Missiles supplied by the USA At least five people were killed, including three children. At least 124 people were injured, including 27 children, five of whom are in critical condition.
Russian Ministry of Defense announced that four of the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles equipped with cluster warheads had been shot down by air defense systems and the munitions of a fifth had detonated in the air.The ministry said that US specialists had determined the flight coordinates of the missiles based on information from US spy satellites, so Washington was directly responsible. “The responsibility for the targeted missile attack on the civilian population of Sevastopol lies primarily with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, and the Kiev regime, from whose territory this attack was carried out.”
The US began supplying Ukraine with longer-range (300km) ATACMS missiles earlier this year. Reuters could not confirm reports of combat between the two sides. Footage from Russian state television showed people running away from a beach and some being carried away on sun loungers. Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said rocket fragments landed shortly after midday near a beach in Sevastopol where locals were vacationing.
Russia will respond to Sunday’s attack, the ministry said, without giving further details. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin has been in “constant contact with the military” since the attack.
Neither Ukraine nor the United States has commented on the attack, which came on a day when Ukraine said one person had been killed and 10 others wounded in Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.