MOSCOW, JUL 28: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea should be considered as an assault on Iran itself and showed how important it was to eliminate what it said was the threat from Kyiv.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the Ukrainian attack, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had struck vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday accused Ukraine of widening the geographical scope of what he called its “terrorist attacks.”

Peskov accused Kyiv of blowing up Germany’s Nord Stream pipelines – something it denies – and of hurting Kazakhstan’s interests by targeting CPC Pipeline Infrastructure.

“This threat must be neutralized and definitively destroyed,” Peskov said.