Protests Against Attacks In Sevastopol, Russia Summons US Ambassador

US Embassy in Moscow, Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/Genandy Grachev)

JAKARTA - The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the United States Ambassador, following a deadly attack on Sevastopol on Monday.

"During a conversation with the head of the US diplomatic mission to Russia Tracy at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 24, a protest was filed against him over another deadly crime by the Kyiv regime, sponsored and armed by Washington, which carried out a deliberate missile attack on civilians in Sevastopol, which caused many casualties, including among children," the ministry said., reported by TASS June 25.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the United States, which launched a hybrid war against Russia, had actually been a party to the conflict with "memassing Ukrainian soldiers with the most advanced weapons, including ATACMS missiles, equipped with cluster warheads, used against Sevastopol residents, with its flight path programmed by American military specialists, carrying the same responsibility as the Kyiv regime for this cruelty."

"The order was informed that Washington's actions, aimed at encouraging Ukrainian pro-Nazi authorities to continue fighting 'until the last Ukrainians', after issuing permits to launch attacks deep within Russian territory, would not be left alone. Response measures will definitely follow," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

Ukraine attacked civilian infrastructure in Sevastopol using the ATACMS tactical missile equipped with bunch ammunition on Sunday. While four missiles crashed, the fifth missile exploded over the city. Four people, including two children, were killed in the attack, while more than 150 others were injured, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the terrorist attack. June 24 was designated as a day of mourning in Sevastopol and Crimea. President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the residents of Sevastopol.

"You have to ask my European counterparts, and especially in Washington, the press secretary, why their government killed Russian children. Just ask them this question," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters about the attack.

Separately, the Pentagon said Ukraine made its own decision on the target of the attack after the Kremlin directly blamed the United States for the attack on Sevastopol, Crimea.

"Ukraine made its own targeting decision and carried out its own military operations," said Major Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman.

A White House National Security Council spokesman said the loss of civilian lives was a tragedy.

"That, of course, includes thousands of innocent Ukrainians who have been killed by Russian troops since the Russian aggression war began," the spokesman said.