- Russia accuses the US of using US-supplied rockets to kill women and children in southern Russia.
- This is the first time Russia holds the US responsible for civilian deaths on its soil.
- The US still prohibits Ukraine from firing US weapons deeper into Russia.
It was the first time that Russia stated it holds the United States responsible for civilian deaths on its soil — an accusation following warnings by President Vladimir Putin that the West is playing with fire and risking a global conflict by allowing Ukraine to fire Western-supplied weapons into Russia. Reuters could not independently verify the assertion, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine or the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the strikes had occurred last week in the Belgorod region shortly after the United States announced for the first time that it had agreed to let Ukraine fire US-supplied weapons into Russia.
On May 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that President Joe Biden had approved the step to allow Ukraine to defend its Kharkiv region, which is adjacent to Belgorod. The US still prohibits Ukraine from firing US weapons deeper into Russia.
Zakharova stated that Washington's statements giving the green light for such attacks amounted to "a confession...for the murder of children and women in the Belgorod region."
“Fragments of HIMARS (rockets) will serve as direct proof,” she told reporters.
Zakharova did not present images of any rocket fragments, nor did she specify how many people had been killed in the alleged incident.
In recent weeks, Putin has increasingly warned that the West risks a global conflict if it wades deeper into the Ukraine war. In remarks to foreign editors on Wednesday, he stated that Russia reserved the right to supply weapons to adversaries of the West in a "symmetrical" response to the Western arming of Ukraine.
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