Russian officials said the White House was directly responsible, claiming that US specialists set the missiles' flight coordinates via information from spy satellites. The Pentagon has not yet commented on the matter. The Biden administration recently permitted Ukraine to strike Russia with American weapons.
Video footage posted by Russian state media showed people running from a beach on the north side of the city of Sevastopol. Some of them were being carried away on sun loungers. Locals were on holiday when the incident occurred.
The Russian Defence Ministry said missile fragments fell near the beach around noon Sunday.
"All flight missions for the American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles are entered by American specialists based on US' own satellite reconnaissance data," the ministry said. "Responsibility for the deliberate missile attack on the civilians of Sevastopol is borne above all by Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, and by the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this strike was carried out," the ministry said.
Earlier this year, the US started arming Ukraine with ATACMS missiles, which have a 186-mile range.
In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and now regards the Black Sea peninsula as an essential component of its territory, despite the fact that most of the world regards it as part of Ukraine.
"Such actions will not go unanswered," the ministry added.
