Phoyo by OSTOROZHNO NOVOSTI | Credit: via REUTERS

By Smartencyclopedia Newsroom with agencies

An adviser to Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has denied Ukraine’s involvement in the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, after the Russian government claimed that two attack drones were disabled by Russian defences.

Moscow, has alleged that Kyiv made an attempt to carry out a drone attack on the Kremlin with the intention of assassinating the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. According to the Kremlin, the attack involved two drones, but Russian defences managed to disable them.

According to a statement published on the Kremlin’s website, the Russian government has labeled the attack a premeditated terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the life of the Russian Federation’s president. The statement revealed that two unmanned aerial vehicles were directed towards the Kremlin, but the military and special services acted quickly, using radar warfare systems to neutralize the vehicles.

It said that debris from the drone “fell on the territory of the Kremlin”.

“There were no victims and material damage,” the Kremlin said, adding that “the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit”.

“The president was not hurt as a result of the terrorist attack,” the Kremlin said.

According to Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin was not present at the Kremlin during the drone attack. Peskov confirmed that Putin spent the day at his official state residence, Novo-Ogaryovo, located outside Moscow.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, denied Ukraine’s involvement in the attack, saying that it was the result of “local resistance forces”.

“Ukraine wages an exclusive defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Podolyak said in a tweet.

“Emergence of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities or on Kremlin’s territory can only indicate the guerilla activities of local resistance forces. As you know, drones can be bought at any military store.”

“Something is happening in RF [Russia], but definitely without Ukraine’s drones over the Kremlin,” Podolyak added.

One unverified video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be smoke coming out of the Kremlin overnight. A second appeared to show the moment one of the drones hit the rooftop buildings inside the walled Kremlin complex, followed by an explosion.

Russia has sustained a number of embarrassing drone attacks on its military bases and fuel depots over the course of the fighting, including in occupied Crimea. In a separate incident on Wednesday, a major fire at a fuel depot in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region broke out as a result of what local authorities said was a drone attack.

Ukraine typically declines to claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or Russian-annexed Crimea, though Kyiv officials have frequently celebrated such attacks with cryptic or mocking remarks.

The attack at the Kremlin came days before the 9 May Victory Day parade that marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The Victory Day parade in Red Square, which is located next to the Kremlin, is a highly symbolic annual demonstration of military might in Russia.

Before Wednesday’s drone attack, several regions in the country scrapped their parades amid fears of Ukrainian strikes. The Kremlin said the parade would go ahead in Moscow despite the incident.

Several officials and pro-Kremlin analysts called on Putin to take retaliatory measures.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the chair of the State Duma, said the “Kyiv regime” should be labelled as terrorists and destroyed.

“We will demand the use of weapons that can stop and destroy the Kyiv terrorist regime,” he added.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, similarly urged Moscow to “destroy the Ukrainian regime.”

“The whole world is watching the attack on the Kremlin and everyone is waiting, what Russia’s response will be? The main question is – will Russia really be able to liquidate someone from the leadership of Ukraine? Or will their threats remain just words?” Markov wrote on his Telegram channel.

Source: With Agencies