The Kremlin considers a missile attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on Sevastopol “barbaric” and knows who stands behind it, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
“We clearly see who is behind this. Just last week, the President talked about who targets these technologically complex missiles and who ensures their launches. It’s not the Ukrainians,” Peskov told reporters.
“Here, you could turn to your colleagues in the media," he added. "Simply ask my colleagues, the press secretaries [of state leaders] in Europe, and especially in Washington, why their government is killing Russian children.”
He warned that US involvement in the conflict resulting in Russian civilian casualties will inevitably have consequences.
"Of course, the involvement of the United States in hostilities, direct involvement in hostilities as a result of which Russian civilians are killed, this, of course, cannot but have consequences," Peskov said.
On June 23 at 12:15 PM local time, Sevastopol was deliberately targeted by five US-made ATACMS (Army TACtical Missile System) rockets armed with cluster bomblets. Russian air defenses intercepted four of the missiles, but the explosion of the fifth missile's cluster warhead in the air caused numerous civilian casualties in Sevastopol.
According to the latest reports, 151 people sustained varying degrees of injuries, with 82 hospitalized, including 27 children, six of whom are in critical condition. Four people died, including two children. Monday has been declared a Day of Mourning in Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea.
Peskov was also asked if the Crimea missile attack and a terrorist attack in Dagestan were connected. The spokesman replied that it is too early to discuss this.
"The president [Vladimir Putin] offers deep condolences to all those who lost their relatives both in Crimea as a result of the missile attack and to the relatives and loved ones of those killed in Dagestan," Peskov said, adding that Putin “continues to receive information” about assistance to those injured in both attacks.
Russia has not received messages of condolences from unfriendly countries after the attack, the spokesman said.
"Russia is different now, society is absolutely consolidated. And such criminal terrorist manifestations as we saw in Dagestan yesterday are not supported by society neither in Russia, nor in Dagestan,” Peskov said, adding that there are currently no plans for a special address by Putin.
Unknown gunmen opened fire at two churches, a synagogue and a traffic police station in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, prompting authorities to launch a counterterrorist operation on Sunday evening.
Fifteen police officers and four civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were known to be killed in the terrorist attacks in Dagestan, the Investigative Committee of Russia said on Monday. Police eliminated six gunmen involved in the attacks, Dagestan head Sergei Melikov said.