– Ukraine makes its own decisions in selecting targets and conducts its own military operations, Dietz said, referring to the threats Russia expressed after the attack on Sevastopol, which Ukraine carried out using US-donated ATACMS missiles. According to Moscow, four people were killed and more than a hundred wounded in the attack. The Kremlin summoned US Ambassador Lynne Tracy to the State Department, accusing Washington of involvement in the missile guidance and threatening “consequences”.
Commenting on the attack, Undersecretary for Political Affairs John Bass said the US is concerned about civilian casualties in any conflict. He could not confirm reports of civilian deaths following the shelling of Sevastopol. He also said that unlike Russia, which has carried out systematic attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, Kiev has so far been very careful to minimize civilian casualties.
“If you compare the civilian casualties in Russia or parts of Ukraine illegally occupied by Ukraine with the casualties among Ukrainians as a result of Russia’s bombing of hospitals, schools and public facilities, I think it shows a huge gap between the two cases,” Bass said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller added, “Only by ending its occupation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory and ending attacks on civilians can Russia end this war and the suffering it has caused today.”
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