Russia blames US for ‘Ukraine attack’ on Crimean beach that left three dead including two children and 120 wounded
Russia has blamed the United States after three people, including two children, were killed when a Ukrainian missile was shot down over a busy beach in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The victims were among nearly 120 tourists hit by fragments of the weapon after it was shot from the sky over Sevastopol today.
The dead included two children aged three and ten, as well as an elderly woman who was swimming in the sea at the time of the impact.
Russian officials claimed they shot down a total of five missiles while flying over the Crimean capital, with the fifth munition disintegrating into deadly debris over the beach in Uchkuevka.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Kremlin claimed that the weapons destroyed were American-made and that Washington bears responsibility for the deaths.
People gather around a Russian tourist injured by the downed Ukrainian missile in Crimea on Sunday
Injured tourists are treated by passers-by on a beach in Sevastopol after the incident on Sunday
Spray flies into the air as pieces of debris from the shot down missile land on the coast near Sevastopol
Cars parked next to the beach in Sevastopol were also hit by the debris, breaking their windshields
“The responsibility for a deliberate missile attack on peaceful residents of Sevastopol lies primarily with Washington, which supplied this weaponry to Ukraine,” the Russian Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram, saying Ukraine used ATACMS missiles.
Video shared on social media shows terror-stricken Russian tourists fleeing the beach in Sevastopol on the occupied Black Sea peninsula at the time of the attack.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol, said the number of injured was almost 100 and called the incident serious.
“All available emergency medical crews have been sent there,” he said.
‘Some people have already been taken to a hospital and are receiving all the necessary help.
‘All forces have been mobilized.’
According to reports, the missiles were US-supplied ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads.
Two Majors pro-war Telegram channels said: ‘While repelling a terrorist attack by air defense forces on duty, four US ATACMS missiles were shot down.
“Another missile, due to the impact of air defense systems in the final phase, deviated from the flight path and detonated the warhead in the air over the city area.
‘As a result of falling fragments of cluster submunitions, more than twenty civilians, including children, were injured.’
Later in the day the toll was raised much higher.
The injured were carried from the beach in Uchkuevka, Sevastopol, by tourists and emergency services after today’s attack by debris from a downed Ukrainian missile.
Russians in Crimea have flocked to Crimean beaches despite the risk of Ukrainian kamikaze drone and missile attacks.
Isolated images from Crimea’s Sudak Beach show people gathering at the popular summer relaxation spots despite the risk of rocket attacks.
The incident comes on the same day Russian bombs destroyed a residential block in Kharkiv, killing at least one person and wounding 10 on Sunday.
The destroyed remains of an apartment are exposed to the sky after Russian missiles damaged an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday
Ukrainians clean the streets and look at the damage caused by Russian bombs in Kharkiv on Sunday
An elderly woman who was swimming in the sea at the time of the impact died on the beach in Sevastopol, eyewitnesses said.
Sevastopol, a Black Sea port city and traditional headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet even when it was under Ukrainian rule, was annexed by Russia in 2014.
It is regularly under fire from Ukraine, but the toll from Sunday’s attack was unusually high.
There were reports of a lack of air raid warnings ahead of the attack.
Earlier in the day, one person was killed and three were injured in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, when three Ukrainian drones attacked the town of Grayvoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense forces shot down 33 Ukrainian drones over the western regions of Bryansk, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Tula.
At least one person was killed and 10 injured in a new attack on Kharkiv, according to local officials on Sunday. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city was attacked by a guided bomb and that the attack left about half of Kharkiv without electricity.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the attack, which came a day after a Russian-led bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv struck an apartment building, killing two people and wounding more than 50.
On Sunday, a house and a children’s educational institution in Kharkiv were hit by Russian attacks, killing one person and wounding 10, including two teenagers, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 41 people were still being treated for injuries on Sunday.
In a video address after Saturday’s attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainian partners to strengthen air defenses.
“Modern air defense systems for Ukraine – such as Patriots, accelerated training of our pilots for F-16s and, above all, sufficient range for our weapons – are really necessary,” he said.
Meanwhile, two people were injured by falling debris when two Russian missiles were shot down over the Kiev region overnight, Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleschuk said.
Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin of Ukraine’s partly occupied Donetsk region said Russian attacks killed two people and wounded four on Saturday.
In other developments, the Ukrainian navy on Sunday released photos that it said confirmed the destruction of a warehouse in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region that was used to launch and store Iranian-designed Shahed drones.
Navy officials said training instructors and cadets were killed in the attack Friday evening. Moscow has not yet commented on the reports, but officials said air defenses shot down a number of drones in the region overnight on Friday.