Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the involvement of the U.S. in the Sevastopol attack was beyond doubt.
"Washington and its satellites have created a neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, are waging war against Russia with its hands and are encouraging it to commit acts of terrorism and murder peaceful Russian citizens," MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Modnay.
Meanwhile, the missile strike on Sevastopol using US-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System), equipped with banned cluster warheads, on Trinity Sunday has clearly exposed the US' intention to create "religious polarisation" in Russia to achieve the broader objective of weakening the country from within, an Indian expert has told Sputnik India.
"The intention of western powers is quite obvious. They want to create religious polarisation in Russia. The goal is to create a fear psychosis among Russian population in order to foment unrest," remarked Air Marshal M. Matheswaran, an Indian Air Force (IAF) veteran and the President of The Peninsula Foundation (TPF), a Chennai-based think tank.
The expert pointed towards the multi-ethnic and multicultural demographic of Russia, home to Europe's biggest Muslim population excluding Turkiye.
Matheswaran highlighted that statements from western political elite and commentators have made it amply clear that the collective West favoured a "weakened Russia".
He recalled a statement by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin back in April 2022 during a visit to Kiev. At a joint press conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Volodymyr Zelensky, Austin categorically stated that the US wanted "Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine".
Meanwhile, an enfeebled Russia would be subservient to economic interests of western oligarchs and governments, the Indian geopolitical expert remarked.
He believes that West's "direct military involvement" in Ukraine against Russia was an "open secret".
"You have NATO advisors helping Ukrainian forces operate some of the early weapons’ systems and platforms. The West is feeding intelligence inputs to Ukrainians on a real-time basis. As far as the ATACMs and other advanced systems are concerned, the Ukrainians couldn't have fired them without the express involvement of NATO allies, including the US," the Indian military expert asserted.
Sevastopol Attack Puts Europe at Tenterhooks
nces of the Ukrainian missile attack, Matheswaran warned that an escalation would be "disastrous for both the sides" but the US-led collective West was not "going to stop" in prolonging the military conflict.
"Geographically speaking, the US is quite safe from external threats due to its isolated position. The US is shrewd enough to use Europeans as cannon fodder. In a geostrategic sense, the Europeans have fallen into the US' trap. So, in case of an escalation, it would be the Europeans, rather than Americans, who are going to bear the brunt of the conflict," he geopolitical analyst explained.
The expert reckoned that the Sevastopol attack marked the crossing of the proverbial "red line" by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies.
In the meantime, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) this month, President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would retaliate if any third country participated directly in the Ukraine conflict.
Sevastopol Attack Should be Condemned as a 'Terrorist Act'
Matheswaran said that he was "fully supportive" of Russian position in calling the Sevastopol attack as an "act of terrorism".
"I'm sure that they would get much of the diplomatic support needed from the rest of the world. After all, it is only the western bloc, which is blatantly against Russia on this issue. Nearly two-thirds of the global community backs Russia, be it directly or indirectly," Matheswaran said.
"From the start of the Ukraine conflict, we have seen many countries sitting on the fence on several UN resolutions. By not opposing Russia, these countries have already voiced their implicit support for Russians," the geopolitical analyst concluded.
More Than 20 Innocents Killed
The US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads (banned under a 2008 treaty) were fired at Sevastopol at 12:15 pm on Sunday, The Russian Defence Ministry has said.
While the air defence systems over the Sevastopol intercepted four ATACMs, the explosion resulting from the fragmentation of the fifth missile led to a "high number of casualties", the MoD said.
Further, the defence ministry highlighted that "American specialists" were responsible for providing crucial inputs in operating ATACMs, which includes providing satellite reconnaissance.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia understood who was behind the Sevastopol attack, and "it's not the Ukrainians". He told reporters that there would be "consequences".
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen targeted two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a traffic police post in Derbent and Makhachkala cities in Dagestan the same day. The armed attacks killed 15 policeman and four civilians.
Abdulkhakim Gadzhiev, a State Duma deputy from Dagestan, has accused the Ukrainian and NATO intelligence agencies of orchestrating the assault, while the head of Republic of Dagestan said that the attackers were trained abroad.