Russia blames the US for the Ukrainian attacks that killed at least four people and injured dozens in Crimea

Russia blamed Washington for a deadly attack on a strategic port in occupied Crimea on Sunday, claiming US missiles were used in the attack. The attack killed at least four people and injured more than 150, and was one of the largest attacks on the Russian-annexed peninsula in recent months.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that four U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles had been intercepted over the city of Sevastopol, but that fragments from the fifth missile on the ground had caused “numerous civilian casualties.”

“All flight missions for the American operational-tactical ATACMS missiles are carried out by American specialists on the basis of their own satellite reconnaissance data,” the ministry said in a statement. “Therefore, responsibility for the targeted missile attack on civilians in Sevastopol lies primarily with Washington, which supplied Ukraine with these weapons, and with the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this attack was launched.”

NBC News could not independently confirm what type of weapons were used in the attack. The U.S. has provided military aid to Ukraine to defend against the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. The Biden administration recently gave Ukraine permission to use American weapons to launch attacks inside Russia, two American officials told NBC News.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and considers it part of Russia, although it remains internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory.

“Such measures will not go unanswered,” the ministry added.

The city’s Moscow-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said two children were among the dead and 151 people were injured, with more than 80 of them hospitalized.

The governor declared Monday a day of mourning in the city and said he had visited the injured in hospitals. Russian President Vladimir Putin called him immediately after the attack and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, Razvozhayev added.

The governor accused the Kyiv authorities of striking “secretly” at a time when many residents were returning from church and celebrations for the Orthodox feast of the Holy Trinity or were on the beach with their children.

His deputy, Alexander Kulagin, also told the Russian state news agency Tass that many of the injured were on the beach during the attack.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said doctors from the capital would be dispatched to provide the necessary assistance and Moscow clinics were ready to receive the victims. Some patients would be flown to Moscow for treatment, Razvozhayev said on Monday.

Tass reported on Monday that Rasvoshayev had also declared a regional state of emergency in Sevastopol following the attack.

There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv. The country’s Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and military officials did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the attack as “an act of terrorism committed with US weapons” that must be condemned by the United Nations. Moscow-appointed Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov described the incident as “a barbaric, ruthless terrorist attack.”

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the attack.

Also on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities responded with accusations of terrorism against civilians and reported on the recent deadly Russian attack on the border city of Kharkiv.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russia continued to attack the city’s civilian infrastructure with aerial bombs. Sunday’s attacks killed one person and wounded 11, Syniehubov said, adding that the latest attack left parts of Kharkiv without electricity and paralyzed the subway in the country’s second-largest city.

According to Syniehubov, just one day earlier, another attack took place in Kharkiv, killing three people and injuring 41. A five-story residential building was damaged.