The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine on Friday of using US-supplied HIMARS missiles to target civilian areas in Russia’s Belgorod region, resulting in the deaths of women and children.
During a news conference on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that fragments of the HIMARS rockets would serve as direct evidence of the incident, implicating the United States in the attack.
“The decision by the US to supply Kiev with long-range weapons has made them complicit in the deaths of women and children in Belgorod,” Zakharova stated. She added that the use of such sophisticated weaponry by Ukraine would be impossible without the presence of Western instructors on the ground.
Yeho Chernev, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces carried out strikes up to 20 miles (32 km) into Russia. He confirmed that Ukraine’s forces used HIMARS in these attacks.
