US disputes Russia’s declaration of accountability for invasion of Crimea

The US on June 24 hit back at Russia’s claim that it was responsible for the deadly June 23 invasion of Crimea, again pointing the finger at Moscow for starting the fighting and declaring that the guns it provides are to Ukraine. To save. Its dimension in opposition to Russian aggression.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the crash in Sevastopol on June 23 involved five long-range missiles that the US had begun supplying to Ukraine for the occasion.

It also claimed that American experts had desired the gliding coordinates of the missiles according to information received from American satellites.

Local branch spokesman Matthew Miller responded by saying it was not common for Moscow to make “ridiculous, hyperbolic claims about responsibility that are not borne out by the facts”.

He said Russia was the first to blame Washington for a terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall in March that killed more than 140 people and was most likely claimed by the extremist Islamic group.

Miller advised Newshound, “We regret the loss of any civilian lives in this war. We provide weapons to Ukraine so it can defend its sovereign territory against armed aggression – including Crimea, which “Definitely part of Ukraine.” “Russia can stop this war today.”

Miller said the US had a negative review of the invasion of Crimea, which Russia said killed four people, including two children, and injured 151. Moscow claimed the attack was carried out using US-supplied military tactical missile technologies, known as ATACMS. With a lump warhead.

Pentagon spokesman Prime Minister Charlie Dietz said that Ukraine “makes its own targeting decisions and conducts its own military operations.”

Russia summoned US Ambassador Lynn Tracy to the International Ministry on June 24 to allege that Washington was “waging a hybrid war against Russia and has de facto become a party to the conflict” and said the attack would not be carried out. . Advance without penalty.

“Of course, United States involvement in the fighting, which results in peaceful Russians dying, cannot have consequences,” Peskov said. “Exactly which ones – time will tell.”

When he declined to offer specific services, Peskov cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response on June 6 about supplying standard guns to regions such as the United States and America’s allies.

Putin has also said that Russia could supply guns to North Korea, suggesting that this would replicate the West providing military arms and equipment to Ukraine to defend itself in a full-scale invasion declared by Russia in February 2022. There may be a reaction. According to the United Nations, more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in Russian attacks during the invasion.

In the same week that the Russian Defense Ministry said four people were killed in an attack on Crimea when they crashed due to falling debris from missiles, Mikhail Razvozayev, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, said five people were killed.

Video images circulated through Russian media and posted on social media showed passengers rushing to rescue and injured people being evacuated from a beach on the northern edge of the city, a popular tourist destination and the epicenter of Russian twilight. This is the residential area of ​​the Sea Fleet. ,

Russia seized and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and installed a local executive, despite the fact that the region formally remains part of Ukraine.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kiev has vowed to restore control over its territory and has concentrated major Russian military and naval installations in Crimea.

The attack came as Russia continued to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure and attacked the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, located on the border with Russia.

On June 22, at least two people were killed and more than 50 injured when a Russian bomb hit an apartment building. On June 23, wind continued to blow in the city, resulting in the death of one person.

Russian forces also attacked Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on June 24, killing at least four and wounding 34. Regional governor Vadim Fylashkin said two Iskander-M missiles destroyed one house and damaged 16 others in the city of Pokrovsk.

Russian army blogger fast criticized Russian Ministry of Security and the government capture of Crimea after the missile crash in Sevastopol, according to the Institute for Research of Battles (ISW).

In a June 23 document, ISW where did it go That “Russian sources criticized Russian authorities for not using air raid sirens to alert civilians to take shelter.”

The US think tank also said that the Russian government was criticized for “failing to detect and destroy all the missiles before they reached Sevastopol”.

Ukraine has in recent months stepped up attacks against Russian forces in Crimea, which Russia has militarized since it annexed it in 2014. There are more than 200 Russian military sites on Crimea, including wind bases, naval installations, training areas, wind defenses. and in addition to rocket forces, alert and communications facilities.

The Kremlin is promoting Crimea as a tourist destination despite fears of attacks. Crimean authorities have arranged for fairs and live shows this summer as the peninsula relies heavily on tourism to maintain its economy. The Kremlin and Russian businessmen have invested tens of billions of rupees in infrastructure, lodges and real property since 2014.

Travelers going there were advised to pay attention to reliable ultimatums like wind alarm. At the same time, the Ukrainian government has given an ultimatum to the Russians not to stay in Crimea from 2022.

With reporting via AFP and Reuters