WASHINGTON, October 11. /TASS/. Washington’s recently announced statements about the readiness to provide Ukraine with ‘additional supplies of military products, including the latest models’ prove that the United States is a part to the conflict, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov stated.
"Russia’s decision to strike with precision-guided weapons at infrastructure facilities in Ukraine was a response to terrorist acts committed in our country," Antonov stated. "The responsibility for them lies entirely with the Kiev regime."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an urgent Security Council meeting on Monday that a massive strike had been inflicted on Ukrainian energy, military command and communications facilities and warned Kiev that if Ukraine tried to continue terrorist attacks in Russia, they would be met with a tough response.
"We did not expect any other reaction from the [US] administration," Antonov stressed. "However, we perceive the statements by the US leadership about their intention to support Zelensky with additional supplies of military products, including the latest models, as another proof that Washington has secured its own status as a participant of the conflict."
US President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Monday. Biden assured the Ukrainian leader that Washington would continue providing Kiev with the military aid.
"Such assistance, as well as providing Kiev with intelligence, instructors and combat guidelines, leads to further escalation and increased the risks of a clash between Russia and NATO," the Russian diplomat noted. "Not to speak of Ukrainian forces repeatedly using Western arms to hit civilian infrastructure and residential buildings."
"We call on the United States and its allies not to cross the ‘red lines’ they have approached. Stop pumping the Kiev regime with lethal arms. It will only lead to new victims and destruction, as well as further prolonging the conflict," Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov added.
On the morning of October 8, a truck exploded on the Crimean Bridge, collapsing two eastbound parts of its road section and subsequently setting ablaze a train of fuel tanks on a separate, adjacent rail portion of the bridge.
As a result of the blast, three people were killed. A government commission chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin was set up after the incident. Rail traffic has been restored on the bridge, which was also partly reopened for buses and automobiles.
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine
The situation along the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. At that time, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the worst wave of bombardments by the Ukrainian military, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.
On February 21, President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republic in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.
Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republic for assistance he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.