Russia has accused Kyiv of trying to kill its president, Vladimir Putin, with a drone strike on the Kremlin, in a claim that was immediately denied by Ukrainian officials.
“Last night, the Kyiv regime attempted a drone strike against the residence of the president of the Russian Federation at the Kremlin,” Mr Putin’s press service said on Wednesday, claiming that the two drones were disabled by Russian security forces and crashed in the Kremlin grounds in central Moscow, without causing injuries or damage.
“We view these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt targeting the president, carried out ahead of Victory Day,” the Kremlin added, referring to Russia’s May 9th holiday marking the Soviet and Allied victory over Nazi Germany, when a military parade is usually held in front of the Kremlin on Red Square.
“The president was not injured in this terrorist attack…Russia reserves the right to take measures in response wherever and whenever it deems appropriate.”
On social media site Telegram, the Baza channel posted several videos that appear to show a drone blowing up as if flies over the rooftops of the Kremlin complex, causing a small fire on one roof and pillar of smoke to rise from the scene.
However, it is not clear if Ukraine possesses a drone that could fly the 500km to central Moscow, or how Russia’s air defences could allow it to reach the Kremlin.
The alleged attack came amid of spate of drone attacks by both sides in the all-out war between the neighbours and former allies, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February.
“We have no information about a so-called night-time attack on the Kremlin, but as President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy has said more than once, Ukraine is using all its strength and means to free its own territory, not to attack that of someone else,” said the Ukrainian leader’s spokesman, Serhiy Nikiforov.
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Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Mr Zelenskiy, called Russia’s allegation a “predictable” pretext to justify “a large-scale terrorist attack” against Ukraine.
“First of all, Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” he said, while claiming that recent drone strikes on oil depots and other industrial sites in Russia were not the work of Kyiv but rather “the guerrilla activities of local resistance forces.”
“The loss of power control over the country by Putin’s clan is obvious…In a word, something is happening in the Russian Federation, but definitely without Ukraine’s drones over the Kremlin,” he added.
Mr Podolyak also linked Russia’s drone-attack allegations to claims that its security services had foiled a planned attack by agents of Ukrainian military intelligence on senior collaborationist officials in occupied Crimea.
In Russia, where public criticism of Mr Putin’s regime and its invasion of Ukraine are effectively outlawed, parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said: “There can be no talks with Zelenskiy’s regime, We will demand the use of weapons that can stop and destroy the Kyiv terrorist regime.”
Hours after the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, US authorities announced a further $300 million military aid package for Ukraine.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington would continue to stand with Ukraine to defend itself from Russian aggression.
He said the latest security assistance package included additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, howitzers, artillery and tank ammunition, anti-tank weapons, rockets, small arms as well as ammunition, trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment, and spare parts and other field equipment essential to strengthening Ukraine’s defenders on the battlefield.
“This latest package will help Ukraine continue to bravely defend itself in the face of Russia’s brutal, unprovoked, and unjustified war. Russia could end its war today. Until Russia does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes.”
Mr Zelenskiy visited Helsinki on Wednesday for talks with the prime ministers of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, as he seeks urgent deliveries of arms and ammunition for Ukraine’s planned spring counter-offensive.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that “chaotic” Russian shelling of Kherson city killed at least 12 people and injured about 22 others, and that a further four people were killed in the surrounding region.
Ukraine said it shot down 21 of 26 explosive drones launched by Russia overnight, and that an oil facility in the central city of Kropyvnytskyi was hit and set alight. An oil depot in southern Russia, near Crimea, was also ablaze after a drone strike.
