Russia Accuses Ukraine’s Western Allies of Helping Attack Its Black Sea Fleet Headquarters

 This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Russia Accuses Ukraine’s Western Allies of Helping Attack Its Black Sea Fleet Headquarters

 This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s Western allies of helping plan and conduct last week’s missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters on the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

“There is no doubt that the attack had been planned in advance using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite assets and reconnaissance planes and was implemented upon the advice of American and British security agencies and in close coordination with them,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that the US and its NATO allies have effectively become involved in the conflict by supplying weapons to Ukraine and providing it with intelligence information and helping plan attacks on Russian facilities.

Unconfirmed news reports said Storm Shadow missiles provided to Ukraine by the UK and France were used in the attack on the headquarters.

The UK Ministry of Defense didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Zakharova's remarks or reports that Storm Shadow missiles were used in the strike.

The accusation came as new video reported to show that the fleet’s commander, Adm. Viktor Sokolov, was still alive despite Ukraine’s claims — without providing supporting evidence — that he was among 34 officers killed in Friday’s strike on the port city of Sevastopol.

The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Crimea has served as the key hub supporting the invasion and has increasingly come under fire by Ukraine.

Ukraine said the strike that put a large hole in the main building of the headquarters had wounded 105 people, though those claims couldn't independently be verified.

Russia initially said one serviceman was killed but quickly retracted that statement and said the person was missing.

Moscow has provided no updates on any casualties.

The Kremlin didn’t comment on Sokolov’s status, but the Defense Ministry on Tuesday released a video showing him among other senior officers attending a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Sokolov didn’t speak in the clip.

When asked about Sokolov on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that he took part in the call with Shoigu but refrained from further comment.

Russian state television stations on Wednesday showed Sokolov speaking to journalists in Sevastopol after handing awards to a Black Sea Fleet soccer team. Sokolov was asked to say a few words to residents after the latest developments — an apparent reference to the Ukrainian claim that he was killed with scores of other officers in the missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters.

“What happened to us? Nothing happened to us,” Sokolov responded. “Life goes on. The Black Sea Fleet confidently and successfully carries out the tasks assigned to it by the command. Surface forces, submarine forces, naval aviation, and coastal troops are successfully completing tasks.”

Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces posted a statement Tuesday saying its sources claimed that Sokolov was among the dead, many of whom hadn’t yet been identified. It said it was trying to verify the claim after the video surfaced.

Zakharova's statements follow comments made Tuesday by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, who said the arrival of American-made Abrams tanks in Ukraine and a US promise to supply an unspecified number of long-range ATACMS missiles would push NATO closer to a direct conflict with Russia.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.