“Russia vows retaliation against US”

MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Monday directly blamed the United States for an attack on Crimea with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151, and Moscow formally warned the U.S. ambassador that retaliation would follow.

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But directly blaming the United States for a deadly attack on Crimea - which Russia annexed in 2014 and now considers to be Russian territory although most of the world considers it to be part of Ukraine - is a step further.

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Russia said that the United States had supplied the weapons, while U.S. military specialists had aimed the weapons and provided data for them.

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Russia summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy to the foreign ministry where she faced accusations that Washington was "waging a hybrid war against Russia and has actually become a party to the conflict". The attack, Russia told Tracy, would "not go unpunished. Retaliatory measures will definitely follow."

THAT is the step further, vowing retaliation. Moscow bluffs, but in vague warnings, not with direct statements. They are going to attack us.

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RETALIATION (original emphasis)

Since the United States allowed Ukraine to use some U.S. weapons against Russia, and Britain suggested Kyiv could do the same with British weapons, the Kremlin has sent several signals that it views the moves as a serious escalation.

Putin ordered drills to practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, suggested Russia could deploy conventional missiles in striking distance of the United States and its allies, and sealed a mutual defence pact with North Korea.

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Peskov recalled Putin's words on June 6 about supplying conventional weapons to regions near to the U.S. and its allies.