MOSCOW (Russia): The Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, slammed the United States over the recent missile attack in Crimea, and accused Washington of supporting the “crimes of the Kyiv regime.
He said that the crimes were “committed purposefully” during the concentration of the maximum people, adding that the attackers didn’t even spare women and children.
“The administration (US) demonstratively supports the crimes of the Kiev regime. It took the side of international terrorism,” the Russian envoy said on Monday, in a press briefing on being asked about the US”silence’ on the issue.
“There is no justification for the bloody acts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The crimes were committed purposefully during the concentration of the maximum number of Russians on the shore. The bandits did not even hesitate to kill women and children on a Christian holiday, revered by all,” he added.
This comes after at least five people were killed and over 100 were injured after missile fragments scattered over beachgoers during a Ukrainian strike on the city of Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea, CNN reported citing authorities.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said in a post on Telegram that Ukraine carried out the attack using “US-supplied ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads.”
Anatoly Antonov further slammed the US saying its supply of weapons to Ukraine, stating that it “testifies the desire” of the local authorities.
“Americans cannot sit overseas and escape responsibility for the blood and tears of innocent people. The supply of American weapons to the puppets, giving them the right to attack civilians, only testifies to the desire of the local authorities to continue the war, regardless of human casualties,” he said.
“It is obvious to policymakers in Washington that cluster munitions in ATACMS missiles cannot be launched without the participation of American specialists and support from US intelligence. It is no coincidence that enemy drones are circling over the Black Sea almost every day,” Antonov added.
The envoy called it a death of America’s “pseudo-humane” foreign policy
“All this indicates the death of America’s pseudo-humane foreign policy in the bloody swamp of the Ukrainian crisis. It becomes almost impossible for Russophobes to justify their direct involvement in the conflict in the post-Soviet space,” he further stated.
He also expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased and wounded in the terror attack and also wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Notably, Crimea has been under Russian control since its forces annexed the peninsula in 2014. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it has come under sporadic attack from Ukrainian forces.
Kyiv has previously insisted that its strikes on Crimea, which have targeted Russian naval bases and vessels, are an integral part of their strategy, intended to try to isolate the peninsula and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland, a Ukrainian source familiar with the strategy told CNN last year. (ANI)