French Patriot leader says NATO wants total war after Crimea strike
2 Min Read
Florian Philippot accuses "NATO hawks" of desiring a complete war, calling the Ukrainian strike a "terrible escalation".
-
An ambulance is parked near a public beach that was hit by a Ukrainian missile attack in Sevastopol, Republic of Crimea, Russia on June 23, 2024. (Sputnik)
Florian Philippot, head of the French euroskeptic group The Patriots, described the fatal Ukrainian missile attack on a public beach in Sevastopol as an escalation, asserting that NATO intended to unleash a global war.
Philippot wrote that the strike on "a crowded beach in Crimea, which killed several people, including two children, is a terrible escalation," explaining that "NATO hawks want total war."
The French official accused the US of enabling the strike by providing Kiev with ATACMS with "very destructive" fragmenting warheads.
A Ukrainian missile assault on Crimea killed five people, including two children, and injured over 119, according to officials. Fragments struck beachgoers in Sevastopol after at least one missile was intercepted by air defenses and detonated in the sky.
A Russian Health Ministry spokesperson informed the RIA Novosti news agency that 124 people were hurt, including 27 children.
Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev also reported that shrapnel struck coastal regions and set fire to a home and forest.
Social media videos show people fleeing the beach after the blasts, with some carrying stretchers.
🇷🇺 In Sevastopol, people bring flowers to the fountain in Komsomolsky Park to honor the memory of those killed due to the APU strike.
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 23, 2024
Ukraine struck a Crimean beach earlier today. Using USA-provided ATACMS, they murdered 2 children. pic.twitter.com/Te9D8AYtX1
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it had called US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy to convey disapproval of Kiev's missile assault on Sevastopol.
Using US-made ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads, the Ukrainian armed forces assaulted Sevastopol on Sunday. The Ministry reported that four missiles were downed while a fifth reversed course after being intercepted "with its warhead exploding in the air over the city."
In a statement, the Ministry said, "During a conversation at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 24 with the summoned head of the US diplomatic mission in Russia, Lynne Tracy, a demarche was made in connection with the new bloody crime of the Kiev regime, sponsored and armed by Washington, which launched a targeted missile attack on the civilian population of Sevastopol, accompanied by numerous casualties, including children."
The ministry added that the US encouragement of the pro-Nazi leadership in Ukraine to launch a military campaign would not go unpunished and that a response is inevitable.
5 people, including 3 children, killed and 124 civilians were injured as a result of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on Sevastopol.
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) June 23, 2024
Russian MOD: Today at 12.15, a terrorist missile strike by five U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped by cluster warheads was… pic.twitter.com/d7Jali9gzv
