Zelensky’s top aide, Mikhail Podoliak: Civilians killed on Sevastopol beach were ‘occupiers’

Civilians killed on Sevastopol beach were ‘occupiers’ – top Zelensky aide

RT

The four Russian civilians killed by a Ukrainian cluster munitions attack on a Crimean beach were “occupiers,” as are the residents of the region at large, and as such their deaths are justifiable, Vladimir Zelensky’s top aide, Mikhail Podoliak, declared on Monday. 

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military fired five US-supplied ATACMS missiles at the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Sunday. Russian air defense systems destroyed four of the projectiles in mid-air, but the fifth was damaged, veered off course, and detonated its cluster warhead over a packed beach, killing five civilians and injuring more than 150. Three of those killed were children.

The Kremlin described the attack as an act of “terrorism,” and argued that the US bears equal responsibility for the deaths. “Cluster munitions in ATACMS missiles cannot be launched without the participation of American specialists and support from US intelligence,”Russia’s envoy to the US, Anatoly Antonov, stated. “It is no coincidence that enemy drones are circling over the Black Sea almost every day.”

In a post to his Telegram channel, Podoliak defended the Ukrainian attack. 

“There are not and cannot be any ‘beaches’, ‘tourist zones’ and other fictitious signs of ‘peaceful life’ in Crimea,” he wrote. “Crimea is definitely a foreign territory occupied by Russia, where hostilities are taking place, a full-scale war is ongoing.”

The US and NATO view Crimea as “illegally annexed” Ukrainian territory, and have demanded that Moscow return the region to Kiev’s control.