The US State Department has called ridiculous and hyperbolic statements accusations of alleged US involvement in the June 23 strike on Sevastopol made by some Russian officials, according to Sky News.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the ATACMS missiles allegedly used in the strike on Sevastopol, which, according to the Russian side, killed four people and injured 150 others, were supplied by the United States and programmed by American specialists.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that "involvement of the United States, the direct involvement, as a result of which Russian civilians are killed, cannot be without consequences."
During a briefing at the US State Department, spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about these Russian accusations.
Miller called them unfounded and wrong.
"I don't have any assessment of the underlying attack, including who was responsible for it. But you have seen Russia make ridiculous claims about responsibility in the past," he said.
He recalled Russia's accusations against the United States after the terrorist attack in the shopping center near Moscow, "despite the US warning them about the attack."
"It's not unusual for Moscow to make ridiculous, hyperbolic claims about responsibility that aren't born out of facts," Miller said.
The US State Department spokesperson also noted that the United States provides weapons to Ukraine "so that it can defend its sovereign territory against armed aggression, including in Crimea, which, of course, is part of Ukraine."
Strike on Sevastopol on June 23
On June 23, powerful explosions were heard in several cities of the temporarily occupied Crimea. In particular, explosions were heard in the area of Sevastopol. The so-called governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced an attack and the alleged operation of air defense systems. Russian propaganda media wrote that ATACMS missiles allegedly attacked Crimea.
Razvozhayev said that five air targets were destroyed over the Black Sea but that the wreckage fell in the coastal zone. As a result, several people were allegedly injured and two fires started.
Russian military bloggers criticize the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea for failing to prevent the attack on Sevastopol and to protect the civilian population properly.
The Institute for the Study of War noted that the Russian military may have deliberately placed legitimate military targets near civilian areas in Crimea in an attempt to deter Ukrainian strikes.