Rama Krishna Sangem
Russia accused Ukraine on May 3, Wednesday of attacking the Kremlin with drones overnight in an attempt to kill President Vladimir Putin – the most serious allegation that Moscow has levelled at Kyiv in more than 14 months of war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promptly denied any Ukrainian involvement, telling a press conference in Helsinki: “We don’t attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory.”
A senior Ukrainian presidential official said the incident instead suggested Moscow was preparing a major “terrorist provocation”. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had not been able to validate the reported attack, and that Russian assertions should be taken with a “very large shaker of salt”.
Russia reserved the right to retaliate, Putin’s office said, and Russian hardliners demanded swift retribution against Zelenskiy himself. “Two uncrewed aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were put out of action,” the presidency said in a statement.
“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the president’s life, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned .The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit.”
Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s law enforcement agencies, posted a video showing a flying object approaching the dome of the Kremlin Senate building overlooking Red Square – site of next Tuesday’s Victory Day parade – and exploding in an intense burst of light just before reaching it.
Two similar videos posted on social media showed two objects flying on the same trajectory towards the dome, with the clock on the Kremlin’s Spassky Tower reading 2:27 and 2:43. The first seemed to be destroyed with little more than a puff of smoke, the second appeared to leave blazing wreckage on the dome.
