Russian Foreign Ministry Condemns Strikes by 'Illegal Coalition' Led by US and UK on Yemen

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the US and British strikes on Yemen as a "pretext for further escalation of tension in the region," the ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova stated.

“Our fears got confirmed that the US position in the UN Security Council on the Red Sea is just a pretext for further escalation of tension in the region. We strongly condemn these irresponsible actions of the United States and its allies,” Zakharova said at a press briefing.

According to her, a large-scale military escalation in the Red Sea region “could cancel out the positive trends that have recently emerged in the Yemeni settlement process, as well as provoke destabilization of the situation throughout the entire Middle East region.”

Zakharova also recalled that Russia had previously warned that to justify their aggression, the United States and its allies would try to use recently adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2722 under the pretext of ensuring the safety of navigation in the Red Sea.

“The Americans have been using such absolutely unscrupulous methods that go against international law for a long time,” the press secretary noted. “We call on the international community to strongly condemn the attack on Yemen by a group of countries without a United Nations mandate.”

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According to the diplomat, Russia shares the concerns expressed by regional partners, in particular by Saudi Arabia, and calls for “intensified international efforts to prevent further escalation of the situation.”

“We proceed from the fact that this adventure by the forces of the illegal coalition poses a direct threat to global peace and security. [Thus], we demanded the urgent convening of a meeting of the UN Security Council, from the podium of which our assessments of these illegal actions will be voiced,” Zakharova concluded.

On Thursday night, the US and UK military forces conducted a total of 23 airstrikes on various targets located in four provinces across Yemen. These provinces include the capital city of Sanaa, as well as the cities of Al Hudaydah, Taizz, and Sadah, local government sources told Sputnik. Later in the day, the US Air Forces Central reported that its operations against the Houthis in Yemen successfully targeted over 60 objectives in 16 different locations.

Later on Thursday, the US Central Command said that the Houthis had attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea 27 times since November 19. On the same day, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2722 which condemns the attacks carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels and calls for Houthis to “immediately cease all attacks on merchant and commercial vessels.”

The Houthis said in November they would strike any ship linked to Israel unless the Jewish state ends its invasion of the Gaza Strip. Weeks later, the United States announced the creation of a multinational operation with the stated goal of securing commerce in the Red Sea.