Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced the airstrikes conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom on Yemen.

"The so-called international coalition, and it should be called an illegal coalition led by the US and the UK, carried out missile and bomb attacks on a number of objects on the territory of sovereign Yemen ... Our fears were confirmed that the US position in the UN Security Council on the Red Sea is just a pretext for further escalation of the situation of tension in the region. We strongly condemn these irresponsible actions by the United States and its allies," Zakharova told reporters.

💬 #Zakharova: The so-called "International coalition" led by the US & UK hit a number of targets in Yemen.

❗️ We strongly condemn these irresponsible actions

A military escalation in the Red Sea region could provoke a destabilisation of the situation throughout the Middle East pic.twitter.com/TQ313scfXE

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) January 12, 2024

Elsewhere in her remarks, she noted that a significant increase in military activities in the Red Sea area "has the potential to negate the positive developments seen recently in the Yemeni settlement process and may incite instability across the entire Middle East region." 

Zakharova also urged the global community to denounce the assault on Yemen and called for heightened international endeavors to avert further escalation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson also said in a post on Telegram that the US and UK airstrikes in Yemen represent yet another instance of manipulating UN Security Council resolutions and a complete disregard for international law in the pursuit of escalating tensions in the region.

"US airstrikes on Yemen are another example of the Anglo-Saxons’ distortion of UN Security Council resolutions and complete disregard for international law in the name of escalating the situation in the region for their own destructive purposes," Zakharova added.

In the same context, Russia has formally asked for an immediate session of the UN Security Council to address the military strikes carried out by the United States and Britain in Yemen.

Read next: US to take advantage of escalation in ME: Russian Security Council

This comes shortly after US Air Forces Central announced in a press release that airstrikes in Yemen targeted over 60 sites associated with the Ansar Allah movement across 16 locations.

The strikes involved the utilization of over 100 precision-guided munitions of diverse types, as mentioned in the release.

The big picture 

Following the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Sanaa announced it would enforce a ban on Israeli and "Israel"-bound ships from crossing the Red and Arabian seas in support of the people of the Strip, currently facing an Israeli genocide with direct Washington support and complicity.

The United States, the UK, and France issued last week a "final warning" to Sanaa to stop its operations. But the latter refused to give in to foreign pressure regarding its support to Gaza and announced the attacks would continue until the Israeli genocide stops. The statement was made after the newly established US-led sea coalition, operating under Operation Prosperity Guardian, was fractured before carrying out a single joint operation.

As part of its campaign against Sanaa, the US attacked earlier this month Yemeni Naval Forces in the Red Sea, resulting in the martyrdom of 10 servicemembers.

Responding to threats of ending its operations in support of Gaza, Sanaa's top officials, including Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the defense minister, and the chief of armed forces, all confirmed that any attack on Yemen will be met with a direct, decisive, and large response.

Sanaa warned that the United States and any other party that gets involved in an aggression on the country would "regret their action," reaffirming that Yemen will not allow "anyone to prevent it" from "carrying out its humanitarian, ethical and religious duty toward Gaza" and will continue with its ban decision "no matter the challenges."

Read more: Sayyed al-Houthi: We will bravely confront any US aggression