Russian officials are accusing the Biden administration of trying to escalate the ongoing war in Ukraine, stemming from U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland's recent comments involving Crimea.
On Thursday, while speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Nuland said the United States supports Ukrainian strikes on Russian military targets in Crimea.
Nuland also reasoned that Ukraine "would not be safe unless Crimea is, at a minimum, demilitarized."
The comments from Nuland prompted a quick response from the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C.
Nuland "has admitted that the administration is fueling the ambitions of the Kyiv regime to attack our country," the Russian embassy said in a statement. "Inciting Kyiv criminals to attack Crimea is the same as pushing them to attack Moscow or Vladivostok."
On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters, "The American warmongers have gone even further. They incite the Kyiv regime to further escalate the war."
According to Reuters, Zakharova added: "They supply weapons in huge quantities, provide intelligence and participate directly in the planning of combat operations."
In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
And for the current war between Russia and Ukraine, which will hit the one-year anniversary next week, many analysts speculate that any attempts to return Crimea to the Ukrainian government would cross a so-called "red line" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in terms of sparking an escalation of war.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, reportedly wrote on his Telegram channel Friday that a Ukrainian drone was shot down over a thermal power plant in nearby Balaklava.
The previous day, according to Newsweek, Razvozhayev proclaimed that Russian air defenses had taken out two drones over Sevastopol.
Last month, Razvozhayev reportedly echoed similar claims on Telegram about air defenses downing 10 drones over Sevastopol, in what he referred to as a "failed Ukrainian attack."
According to Newsweek, Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for any of the alleged drone incidents.
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