Ukraine tried to kill Putin with drone attack

GBDESK//

Russia yesterday accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones overnight in a failed bid to kill President Vladimir Putin, as Ukraine announced it had “nothing to do” with the attack on the Kremlin.

“Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” presidential spokesman Mikhaylo Podolyak said. “Ukraine does not attack the Kremlin because, firstly, that does not solve any military aims.”

The Kremlin said two drones had been used in the alleged attack on Putin’s residence in the walled Kremlin citadel, but had been disabled by electronic defences.

It said Russia reserved the right to retaliate – a comment that suggested that Moscow might use the alleged incident to justify a further escalation in its war with Ukraine.

“Two unmanned 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 Kremlin 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 and exploding in an intense burst of light just before reaching it. Reuters could not immediately verify the video’s authenticity.

The statement from the presidential administration said fragments of the drones had been scattered on the territory of the Kremlin complex but there were no casualties or material damage.

RIA news agency said Putin had not been in the Kremlin at the time, and was working yesterday at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow.

Meanwhile, oil depots were ablaze in both Russia and Ukraine yesterday as both sides escalated a drone war targeting infrastructure ahead of Kyiv’s planned spring counter-offensive to try to end Moscow’s all-out invasion.

Scores of firefighters battled a huge fire that Russian authorities blamed on a Ukrainian drone crashing into an oil terminal on Russia’s side of the bridge it built to occupied Crimea.

In Ukraine, a fuel depot was also on fire after a suspected Russian drone strike on the central city of Kropyvnytskyi.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, an administrative building in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region was hit by a drone and set on fire. Ukraine said it had shot down 21 of 26 Iranian-made drones.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said yesterday that he believed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had already begun, and that his forces were observing heightened activity along the front.

In a statement published by his press service on Telegram, Prigozhin said that the “active phase” of the counteroffensive would begin in the coming days.