WASHINGTON, July 18. /TASS/. Washington’s efforts to cover up Ukrainian radicals make it possible to say that the US is complicit in Kiev’s crimes, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said in a statement posted on the embassy’s Telegram channel.
When asked to comment on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that Kiev itself decided how to conduct military operations, Antonov said: "This is not the first statement when the US authorities justify the terrorist acts of Kiev against Russian citizens and facilities."
"The official's statements supplement a series of the tragic events, when the [US] administration pretended not to notice the assassinations of [journalist] Daria Dugina and [military blogger] Vladlen Tatarsky, the brutal shelling of Donetsk residential areas and other Russian cities by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the same way, the United States distanced itself from the Crimean Bridge sabotage, perpetrated by the Ukrainian Nazis last year," the Russian ambassador pointed out.
Antonov emphasized that "this transport artery has not been used to deliver materiel for a long time." "We are talking about the strike against the purely civilian target. The barbarous inhuman act took the lives of two adults, and a 14-year-old girl was left without parents. How are Americans going to look into the eyes of this little person?" he said.
"The fact that Washington is covering up Kiev radicals allows to confidently state that the United States is complicit in Kiev's crimes. Intoxicated by the US support, Ukrainian terrorists may attempt new atrocities. However, there is no doubt that the regime that has put down roots in Ukraine will get what it deserves," the Russian envoy stressed.
Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said with regard to the Crimean Bridge attack that it was up to Ukraine to decide how to fight.
Two Ukrainian surface drones attacked the Crimean Bridge on Monday night, leaving two adults dead and a child injured. Damage was done to the bridge’s roadway, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee told TASS. Russia’s Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case on charges of a terror attack. Traffic along the bridge was suspended in the morning. Rail traffic was resumed by mid-day and a ferry crossing is operating. Passenger cars will soon be able to transit to the mainland from Crimea via ferry, but trucks must take a northern overland detour through the new regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the attack as "yet another act of terrorism by the Kiev regime." According to him, the attack had no military relevance "because the Crimean Bridge has not served as a military supply route for a long time," but killed innocent civilians.