A US RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was in the airspace over the Black Sea southeast of Crimea at the time of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' attack on Sevastopol using cluster-armed ATACMS missiles.
Washington's involvement in the Ukrainian missile strike on Sevastopol is undeniable, given that it was conducted with the US-made ATACMS missiles programmed by American specialists, while a US RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone was operating near Crimea that day, Russia's Foreign Ministry stated on June 24.
"The US is very complicit in this," Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and international consultant, told Sputnik, commenting on the Ukrainian missile attack. "It had cluster bombs as munitions as well. Typically, for most countries it is not acceptable."
The expert said it was "highly likely the Global Hawk was providing reconnaissance, targeting information and potentially guidance information for the ATACMS itself."
"ATACMS… essentially needs to coordinate with something. So, typically a lot of times drones' or satellite information are used to help guide the target and guide the missile," Rasmussen explained. "ATACMS is pre-programed to some degree. But to ensure that it gets to its destination, there's definitely communication of some type with an aerial drone system."
On Sunday at 12:15 pm local time, Ukraine attacked the Russian city of Sevastopol with five ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster bomblets. Russian air defenses intercepted four missiles, but the explosion of the fifth cluster warhead led to the death of four civilians with 153 more injured, according to local authroirties.
The US government admitted in October 2023 that it had covertly provided Ukraine with a model of ATACMS with a range 165 kilometers. Longer-range ATACMS, capable of striking targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers, were secretly included in the $300 million aid package and delivered to Ukraine in April.
Both ATACMS variants have cluster warheads, prohibited by the international Convention on Cluster Munitions — which the US declined to sign.
In May, Politico reported that after Ukraine received ATACMS missiles, it also expressed interest in obtaining MQ-9 Reaper spy drones from the US, stressing that it needs new surveillance capabilities to strike Russian targets "deep behind the front lines."
EurasianTimes commentators suggested that "with the acquisition of the 300-kilometer-range variant of ATACMS, the thinking in Ukraine is that pairing it with an established unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) is the only way to attain some gains in the large artillery and ground systems-centric war."
The Defense Post also reported that US-made ATACMS and MQ-9 Reapers "could work in tandem in Ukraine, with the Reaper collecting target information and the ATACMS ensuring precision strikes."
The US has repeatedly refused to provide its sophisticated drone systems to Ukraine, fearing that they would be shot down and captured by Russian forces. But the Pentagon and its NATO allies have manned electronic intelligence planes and surveillance drones constantly circling over the Black Sea, south of Crimea.
"The Global Hawk… has a long flight duration... It can be up in the air for over 30 hours and has a very long range, both from a flight perspective as well as from a reconnaissance perspective as far as providing detailed information," said Rasmussen. "It can provide very precise information down to less than a meter and basically a third of a meter diameter area."
The military expert emphasized that Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia cannot affect the balance of power on the battlefield in the zone of special military operation.
He argued that the strike on Sevastopol was aimed at the civilian population to prompt "some type of concern there, to provoke some type of uprising or dissatisfaction with the government."
"Targeting the Russian population, we've got some dream here of some of the neocons that are very influential, of overthrowing the government and dismantling Russia," Rasmussen said. "We've heard comments from both the EU as well as US leadership, senior leaders regarding that. So it's just based on their discussions. Is that rhetoric? Perhaps. But there are ulterior motives in this and it's beyond the battlefield itself."
The expert expects that Washington would play down the recent slaughter of civilians in Sevastopol as 'collateral damage', but the problem remains that the US not only provided Ukraine with long-range weaponry but is "actually facilitating the use of it."
"It definitely looks like the US has kind of escalated this one more level," Rasmussen said. "And the role that it's playing in not just authorizing the use for long range, but actually playing a role in facilitating the execution of these long range targeting efforts into Russia," warning that the attack "drags the US very, very much right into the war."
Ukraine Broke International Law With Cluster Bomb Attack on Sevastopol - UN Human Rights Watchdog
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told Sputnik on Monday that the organization is aware of the attacks on a beach in Sevastopol and is verifying the information.
"We have seen the reports about a large number of casualties, including, disturbingly, many children, in an attack in Sevastopol on Sunday, and that local authorities have issued statements that these casualties resulted from the use of cluster munitions. We are trying to verify as much information as we can about this incident, including the number of civilian casualties and the weapon used. We do not have access to the Crimean peninsula, despite repeated requests," the UN agency said.
While the use of cluster munitions is not per se prohibited under international humanitarian law, "it is the consistent position of the UN Human Rights Office that their use in populated areas is incompatible with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law governing the conduct of hostilities," the agency added.
"We urge the Russian Federation and Ukraine to join the more than 100 States that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions which comprehensively bans their use," the OHCHR said.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked Sevastopol, using US-made ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads, four of which were shot down and one deflected and exploded over the city. The attack killed at least four people and injured more than 150 others.
US Involvement in Sevastopol Attack is Undeniable - Russian Foreign Ministry
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that US involvement in the missile strike on Sevastopol is beyond doubt, claiming that Washington and its allies have established a neo-Nazi regime in Kiev.
"On June 23, the Kiev regime, with the support of the US and their satellites, committed yet another monstrous terrorist crime against the peaceful population of Russia," the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
"Sevastopol was targeted. The attack was deliberately timed to coincide with one of the most significant Orthodox holidays — Trinity Day," the statement on the ministry's website continued. "According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, American ATACMS tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads were used to enhance destructive capability."
The ministry stressed that all targeting for ATACMS missiles programmed by US specialists using their own country's satellite reconnaissance data, while a US RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone was operating near Crimea that day.
"The involvement of the US in this sinister crime leaves no room for doubt," the Foreign Ministry charged.
"Washington and its satellites created and nurtured a neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, actively fostering and supporting their Ukrainian puppets, leading them in a war against Russia, and inciting them to commit acts of international terrorism and the murder of peaceful Russian citizens, including using one of the most inhumane types of weapons — cluster munitions," it said.
"A response to this crime will surely follow," the ministry assured.
Ukraine fired five US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads at the Crimean port city early on Sunday afternoon. Four missiles were shot down while the fifth exploded over the city, killing at least four people, including two children, and injuring 153 others.
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