Russian officials say the United States is responsible for Sunday’s deadly Ukrainian military attack on the Crimean peninsula.
Shrapnel from a missile shot down by an air defense system fell on the ground, killing at least four people, including two children, and injuring around 150.
The Russian Defense Ministry said four Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles supplied to Ukraine by the United States were equipped with cluster warheads. The missiles were shot down by air defenses, while a fifth exploded in the air, the ministry said.
Russian state television aired footage of the disaster, showing people fleeing the beach and others being carried away on sun loungers, Reuters reported.
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This photo shows the Russian Ministry of Defense headquarters in Moscow on May 14, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
A Crimean official dispatched by Russia said missile fragments fell near the coast of Sevastopol just after midday.
The Defense Ministry accused US experts of setting the missile’s flight coordinates based on information from US reconnaissance satellites and said Washington officials were to blame.
“Responsibility for the deliberate missile attack against the civilian population of Sevastopol lies above all with Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, and with the Kiev regime, on whose territory this attack took place,” the State Department said, according to Reuters.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and considers it its territory.
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People relax on a Black Sea beach in Sevastopol, Crimea’s largest city, most important port and naval base. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
Sevastopol’s Moscow-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvodzayev, said 151 people were wounded in the incident.
Russian state news agency Ria Novosti reported that 82 of the 151 people were hospitalized, including 55 adults and 27 children.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon for a statement on the Russian allegations.
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All public events in Sevastopol were canceled on Monday as President Razvodzayev declared a day of mourning.
Earlier this year, the United States began supplying Ukraine with ATACMS missiles, giving the country the capability to strike targets at a range of 186 miles.
Reuters contributed to this report.
