Children Among Mass Casualties After US-Supplied Missile Targets Crowded Crimean Beach
Russia on Sunday is reporting a mass casualty event in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, and is saying that a US long-range missile was behind it.
The Russian Ministry of Health in a recent update said that five people were killed in a series of strikes from Ukraine, which injured 124 people including 27 children. Among the deceased, two were children, the ministry said. The casualty toll is likely to climb over the next hours amid the emergency response and as hospital data is reported.
Moscow is calling it a 'terrorist missile strike' on Sevastopol with five US-supplied ATACMS tactical missiles, carried out just after noon local time. What's more is that Russia says they were equipped with cluster warheads, making for a bigger casualty strike zone.
Crimean officials said that in once instance a missile exploded above a crowded beach, unleashing shrapnel on people who had been relaxing there.
A separate Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) statement directly accused Washington. "Flight missions for ATACMS missiles are programmed by American specialists based on US satellite reconnaissance, making Washington primarily responsible for the deliberate missile strike on Sevastopol's civilians," the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated.
Widely circulating brief video showing the moment a projectile exploded over beachgoers in Sevastopol...
🇺🇦🇷🇺 The NATO-backed Kiev regime attacked Sevastopol with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles using cluster munitions.
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 23, 2024
So far, three people, including two children, have been reported killed.
The number of injured civilians has almost reached 100. pic.twitter.com/zI2h15IIGX
"Therefore, the responsibility for the deliberate missile strike on Sevastopol’s civilians lies primarily with Washington, which supplied this weapon to Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime, from whose territory the strike was launched," the MoD statement added.
The statement explained that while anti-air defenses were able to down four of the five inbound rockets, the fight changed trajectory due to the intercept attempts resulting in "its warhead exploding in the air over the city."
It emphasized this was "terrorist attack on the civilian infrastructure of Sevastopol with U.S.-supplied ATACMS tactical missiles loaded with cluster warheads."
Local video of the aftermath showing a largely deserted beach...
🇷🇺 The beach in Sevastopol, struck by a U.S.-supplied [cluster] ATACMS, is being inspected by sappers and divers.
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 23, 2024
Bloodstains and scattered belongings of tourists are visible at the scene of the tragedy. pic.twitter.com/3Tg1eSRxaC
AFP writes of emerging unverified footage that "Videos posted on social media showed people running from the beach as explosions went off and people in swimming outfits carrying a stretcher."
Russia's military warned that "Such actions will not be left without a response." The Biden administration has regularly sought to claim that US-supplied weapons transferred to Ukraine can only be used to attack military targets and are "defensive" - even in the instance of cross-border attacks.
Likely Russia is gearing up to pummel multiple sites across Ukraine, and will try to go after bases hosting foreign military equipment and arms storehouses. This event is a major escalation, and likely President Putin himself will address it in a statement at some point in the next 24 hours.
Already Ukraine has been struggling through nationwide rolling blackouts due to stepped-up airstrikes and drone attacks primarily targeting the nation's energy infrastructure, as its population braces for more.