The U.S. Department of Defense has responded to Russia's accusations that the Ukrainian Defense Forces fired ATACMS missiles at Russian-occupied Ukrainian Sevastopol.
In particular, Pentagon Spokesperson Pat Ryder commented.
"It's important to take a look back at how we got to where we are today, which was Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and if they're concerned about casualties among their forces then they should stop this war immediately and return Ukraine's sovereign territory versus throwing their forces unnecessarily into this," Ryder said.
According to him, Russia is responsible for its invasion of Ukraine, which has led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.
The Pentagon Spokesperson also noted that Ukrainians make their own decisions when it comes to military operations and planning strikes on Russian military targets.
As for Russia's accusations that Russian civilians, including children, were killed by ATACMS missiles, Ryder said the Pentagon has no such information.
"We don't have any information to indicate whether or not civilians were killed. Certainly, you know, as I understand it, that's something that we will talk to the Ukrainians about. It's - we've been very clear about, you know, we don't want to see civilian casualties," the Pentagon Spokesperson emphasized.
As Apostrophe reported earlier, explosions occurred in occupied Sevastopol on June 23. The occupation authorities declared a state of emergency in the city.