After a suspected Ukrainian missile attack on the annexed Crimean peninsula, Russia threatened the USA with “consequences” and summoned the US ambassador to Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the US government on Monday of “killing Russian children” after, according to Russian sources, two children and two adults were killed the previous day when a missile hit Crimea. Meanwhile, Kiev called on Russia to leave the peninsula.
Peskov spoke of a “direct involvement” of the USA in the attack, which “will not be without consequences”. What exactly these might look like will become clear in the future. The Kremlin spokesman referred to statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to which the target data for Ukrainian attacks were provided by Western countries.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Lynne Tracy. The diplomat was informed that the US “shares responsibility for this atrocity with the regime in Kiev.” “The US, which is waging a hybrid war against Russia, has become a party to the conflict,” the ministry said on Monday. The attack “will not go unpunished.”
The Russian Defense Ministry had already accused Washington on Sunday of supplying the ATACMS missile to Ukraine for the attack on the port city of Sevastopol. Local administration officials appointed by Moscow said the missile hit an area with beaches and hotels. According to Russian sources, 82 people were hospitalized, including 27 children. The Tass news agency quoted Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying that 14 of the injured were still in critical condition.
President Putin criticized Western deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine during a meeting with journalists in St. Petersburg earlier this month. “If someone thinks it is possible to deliver such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and cause us problems, then why do we not have the right to deliver weapons of the same category to regions of the world where sensitive facilities of these (Western) countries are attacked,” Putin said. The answer could be “asymmetric,” he added, adding: “We will think about it.”
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Monday in the online service Telegram: “Crimea is Ukrainian.” Russia must leave the peninsula, “its army and military facilities there must cease to exist.” Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak also suggested that Crimea was a legitimate target. “Crimea is also a large military camp with hundreds of direct military targets that the Russians are cynically trying to hide and camouflage with their own civilian population,” he argued.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine daily since the start of its offensive in February 2022. According to Ukrainian sources, 551 children have been killed and 1,396 others injured since then.