US and UK Coordinated Attack Against Black Sea Fleet: Russia

On Wednesday, Russia accused the United States and the United Kingdom of coordinating, along with Ukraine, the attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet's State Headquarters in Sebastopol that took place on September 22.

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"There is no doubt whatsoever that this attack was planned and carried out at the behest and in close coordination with British and American intelligence," stated Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

She added that Western intelligence services, satellites of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and spy planes were involved in the preparations.

"The clear objective of these terrorist attacks was to divert attention from the failure of the Ukrainian army's counteroffensive and to intimidate the people, instilling panic in our society," Zakharova denounced, expressing her conviction that they would not achieve their goals.

The attack took place last Friday, using British-made StormShadow missiles, and damaged the historic building housing the military headquarters. Initially, Russia reported damage to the headquarters and one soldier killed.

Ukraine claimed that 34 Russian military personnel, including Admiral Victor Sokolov, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, had died as a result of the attack.

However, in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry released videos showing Sokolov in a meeting with the Russian Army's top brass and in an interview.