On Wednesday, Russian officials claimed Ukraine tried to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with two drones in the middle of the night. The accusation comes as the conflict between the two eastern European nations enters its 15th month.
Video of the alleged assassination attempt circulated on Twitter.
The Kremlin’s website posted the following message by the Presidential Press Service:
Last night, the Kiev regime attempted a drone strike against the residence of the President of the Russian Federation at the Kremlin.
Two unmanned aerial vehicles targeted the Kremlin. Timely action by the military and special services involving radar systems enabled them to disable the devices. They crashed in the Kremlin grounds, scattering fragments without causing any casualties or damage.
We view these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt targeting the President, carried out ahead of Victory Day and the May 9 Parade, where foreign guests are expected to be present, among others.
The President has not suffered in this terrorist attack. His working schedule remains unchanged and follows its ordinary course.
Russia reserves the right to take countermeasures wherever and whenever it deems appropriate.
Serhii Nykyforov, spokesman for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine has “no information about the so-called overnight attack on the Kremlin.”
“We have no information about the so-called overnight attack on the Kremlin. However, as President Zelenskyy has said on numerous occasions, Ukraine is deploying all of its forces and capabilities to liberate its own territories, rather than attack the territories of another country,” Nykyforov said in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda newspaper.
“Some of the word choices of the terrorist state are particularly surprising. A terrorist attack is what happened in Dnipro and Uman, where entire sections of residential buildings collapsed, or the missile that targeted people at the Kramatorsk rail station, or one of countless other tragedies,” Nykyforov continued. “What happened in Moscow is obviously an escalation ahead of 9 May [when Russia celebrates Victory Day, a holiday commemorating the 1945 victory over Nazism – ed.]. That’s the approach we expect of our adversaries.”
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
