Russia has blamed the United States and threatened “consequences” for a Ukrainian missile strike on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Sunday, which officials say killed four people, including two children.
Around 150 more people were hurt in the incident after missile debris fell on a nearby beach.
Russia’s defence ministry said that Ukraine’s missiles were US-supplied ATACMS missiles that had been configured by US specialists.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, described the strike as “barbaric” and accused the United States of “killing Russian children.”.
He cited President Vladimir Putin’s recent promise to attack countries that contribute arms to Ukraine.
Moscow blamed the deaths and injuries on falling debris after its air defences in Crimea intercepted five missiles laden with cluster munitions launched by Ukrainian forces.
Footage broadcast on Russian state television showed commotion on the beach in the Uchkuyevka neighbourhood, with people fleeing falling debris and some injured being carried away on sun lounges.
Russia’s defence ministry alleged on Sunday that all ATACMS missiles are programmed by US specialists and guided by US satellites.
The United States has been supplying Ukraine with ATACMS missiles for more than a year. According to the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, the technology lets Ukrainian forces strike targets up to 300 kilometres (186 miles) away.
Moscow illegally grabbed Crimea in 2014, and just a few countries recognise the peninsula as Russian territory.
As a result, it does not meet the US demand that Ukraine refrain from utilising weaponry supplied by Washington to strike Russian territory.
However, Mr. Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday that the “involvement of the United States, the direct involvement, as a result of which Russian civilians are killed, cannot be without consequences.”.
“Time will tell what these will be,” he added.
On Monday, the Russian foreign ministry summoned US Ambassador Lynne Tracy before issuing a statement accusing the US of complicity in an “atrocity” and warning that it would “not go unpunished.”
Moscow has regularly threatened to hit countries that give arms to Ukraine, alleging that they are legitimate military targets.
“We see very well who is behind this,” Mr. Peskov told reporters on Monday.
“[Mr. Putin] just last week talked about who is aiming these absolutely technologically complex missiles at targets and who is providing these launches. These are not Ukrainians.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Putin reiterated the threat during a meeting with international news agencies.
“If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those (Western) countries?” he said.
“That is, the response can be asymmetric. We will think about it,” he added.
Following the bombing, Ukrainian officials defended the strike, referring to Crimea as a valid target. Mykhailo Podolyak, a top advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, stated the peninsula was, in effect, “a large military camp,” which he said held “hundreds of direct military targets, which the Russians are cynically trying to hide and cover up with their own civilians.”.
According to the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, at least 10,000 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022. The real figure, officials say, is likely to be far higher.
