In the last week of June 2024, Ukraine carried out what appeared to be another unsuccessful ATACMS strike on Crimea. Of the several missiles launched, all but one were intercepted. The last missile was initially reported to have been defected where it detonated over a beach, killing several civilians, including children, and injuring many more.
What could have been concluded as a tragic accident ended up incriminating Kiev, not because of anything Moscow said in response, but because of what a senior advisor to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said regarding the missile strike.
The UK Telegraph, in an article titled, “Crimean sunbathers struck by deadly shrapnel shower from Ukrainian missile,” would initially report:
Shrapnel from an intercepted US-made missile fired by Ukraine hit a beach packed with sunbathing tourists in occupied Crimea on Sunday. Russian officials said at least five people, including three children, had died of shrapnel wounds – and they expected the death toll to rise.
However, the Telegraph in a regular audio report titled, “Ukraine: The Latest,” would then cite Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak as saying:
There cannot be any “beaches,” “tourist zones” and other fictitious signs of “peaceful life” in Crimea, temporarily occupied by the Russians.
Crimea is definitely a foreign territory occupied by Russia, where there are hostilities and a full-scale war. The very war that Russia unleashed for genocidal and invasive purposes only.
Crimea is also a large military camp and warehouse, with hundreds of direct military targets, which the Russians are cynically trying to hide and cover up with their own civilians. Which in turn are considered to be… civilian occupiers.
The quote was confirmed by pro-Ukrainian media platform,........