Russia Blames The United States For Attacks In Sevastopol, Pentagon: We Don't Want To See Civilian Victims

Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick S. Ryder. (Wikimedia Commons/DOD/US Army/Sgt. James K. McCann)

Spokesman for the Department of Defense (Pentagon) said US authorities did not want to see the deaths of civilians linked to the attack on Sevastopol and would discuss it with Ukraine.

"In the end I will refer you to Ukraine to talk about their operations. You know, they make their own decisions regarding operations and targeting," said Major Jender PatrickRIDer, launching TASS June 25.

"We don't have any information showing whether civilians were killed or not," he continued regarding the attack on Sevastopol.

The Ukrainian military attacked civilian infrastructure in Sevastopol with US-made ATACMS missiles armed with bunch ammunition on June 23. Four missiles were shot down while another missile exploded over the city.

Sevastopol Governor Razvozhayev said the missile attack killed four civilians, including two children and injured more than 150 others.

"Of course, you know, as far as I understand, it's something we're going to talk about with Ukraine. That's, we've been very clear about, you know, we don't want to see civilian casualties," said Major General.

"If they (Russia) are concerned about casualties among their troops, then they should immediately stop this war and restore Ukrainian sovereignty rather than deploy their troops unnecessary into this," a Pentagon spokesman added.

When asked if the US had given intelligence to the Ukrainian military to select targets before the attack, Ryder said, "I will refer you to them in any operations they carry out."

It is known that the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the attack. June 24 has been declared Berkabung Day in Sevastopol and Crimea.

"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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to the residents of Sevastopol.