Russian Defense Ministry Blames US for Attack in Sevastopol

The Russian Defense Ministry today, June 23, has placed the responsibility for the attack on civilian residents in Sevastopol on the United States. It stated that all flight missions of the ATACMS missiles are executed by American specialists based on their own data.

"Today, at 12:15 PM, a deliberate terrorist missile strike was carried out on the city of Sevastopol with five American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, which were equipped with cluster munitions. [...] All flight missions [...] the ATACMS missiles are injected by American specialists based on the proprietary data of US satellite reconnaissance," the Russian military department's statement reads.

For this reason, as noted by the Russian Defense Ministry, the primary responsibility for this deliberate attack lies with Washington, which supplied these missiles to the Ukrainian armed forces. The regime in Kyiv, from where the strike was launched, is also culpable.

The ministry emphasized that such attacks will receive a response. It also reminded that Russian air defense systems shot down four ATACMS missiles, while the fifth missile exploded in the air, resulting in civilian casualties in Sevastopol.

Previously, the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had launched a missile attack on the city, and Russian air defense forces were working to repel it. Later, Razvozhayev stated that two children and one adult were among those killed by the attack. The Russian Ministry of Health reported that 124 people were injured as a result of the attack, including 27 children.

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act).