KYIV(AP) – Russia claims to have thwarted an attack on the Kremlin by Ukrainian drones and said an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin failed, in what it described as a “terrorist” act. promised retaliation against The Ukrainian president denied this, saying:
“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow.”
Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time, but at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russian officials claim the attack took place overnight, but have provided no evidence to support it. Questions also surfaced as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why the video was released later in the day. The video, posted overnight on the local Moscow News Telegram channel, was taken from across the river from the Kremlin and showed smoke appearing to billow over the building.
Another video on social media, apparently shot from across Red Square, shows a drone firing a fire flash on the roof of the Kremlin’s Senate Palace near a flagpole carrying the Russian tricolor flag. It seems to show the moment when it explodes inside. Debris falls on the roof. We were unable to independently verify this footage.
The Kremlin said Russian forces and security forces stopped the drones before they could attack them. No one was injured. The wreckage of the drone fell unscathed onto the Kremlin grounds, according to the official website.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied his involvement in an unannounced visit to Helsinki for meetings with the leaders of the five Nordic countries.
“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow. We will fight on our territory. We are protecting our villages and towns,” he said at a press conference.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mikhaylo Podlyak said the allegations could allow Russia to “justify large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities, civilians and infrastructure.”
The Pentagon is investigating the alleged attack, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters.
U.S. intelligence officials were also investigating the Russian allegations, but had yet to make a decision, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing evaluation.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, speaking at a World Press Freedom Day event in Washington, said he had seen the reports but said, “I cannot verify them.” we just don’t know. ”
He added:“Anything that came out of the Kremlin was taken in a very large salt shaker. It’s really hard to guess.
The alleged drone strike would be a major escalation in a 14-month conflict that would see Ukraine bring war to Russia’s center of power.
“It wasn’t an attempt to assassinate Putin because he doesn’t sleep on the roof and probably doesn’t sleep in the Kremlin,” said Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews.
