The Kremlin is accusing the U.S. of orchestrating Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets after two people were killed early Thursday from a massive blast at an oil refinery near the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
An explosion happened at about 5 a.m. local time Thursday at the Angarsk Oil Refinery. It sent a fireball into the night sky that lit up the area for miles around. In addition to the two deaths, at least five people were injured, according to media reports.
Russian officials said the explosion was a result of “gas contamination” of the plant’s equipment. It was unclear if it was an accident or the result of sabotage, the Daily Mail reported.
However, that didn’t stop officials in Moscow from pointing the finger of responsibility at Washington, which it says has “practically become a party to the conflict” that erupted following the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
“Washington … will not be able to evade complicity in the terror unleashed by the Kyiv regime against Russian civilians and absolve itself of responsibility for the deaths and destruction caused by American weapons (from) an American tip-off,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing on Thursday.
Officials in Washington have said they don’t want to see the war widen and insist they are not identifying targets in Russia for Ukrainian attacks. Moscow said U.S. officials are directly involved in artillery and missile targeting and are providing satellite intelligence to Kyiv.
“American journalists openly write that the Pentagon has greenlit drone strikes on Russian territory,” Ms. Zakharova said, according to the official Russian TASS news agency. “Inspired by this support, Ukrainian politicians are already declaring their intention to strike critical infrastructure near Moscow.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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