“Ukraine tried to kill Putin with kamikaze drone, but assassination attempt failed” | War Ukraine and Russia

“Last week, our intelligence services received information that Putin would visit an industrial park in the village of Rudnevo (near Moscow, ed.),” Yuriy Romanenko, a Ukrainian activist said to have close ties to the intelligence services, revealed in a letter. Romanenko claims that Ukraine sent a UJ 22 drone at the park for that reason. “The drone was able to escape Russian air defenses, but eventually crashed not far from the industrial park,” the activist said, according to BILD.

The UJ 22 drone is one of the most advanced Ukrainian drones. The aircraft can independently fly 800 kilometers there and back. The drone should have hit the newly constructed industrial estate, which is about 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, but it failed.

At first glance, the crash seems to be correct. For example, several Russian media sources, including the TASS news agency and the news channels Baza and Shot, reported last Sunday about a crashed drone near the city of Noginsk, east of Moscow and about 20 kilometers from Rudnevo. “Images” of the device were also released.

According to the same sources, the drone contained 17 kilos of explosives on board. The wreck was found in a forest by a local resident, who immediately informed the police, it sounds. The sources also confirmed that it was a Ukrainian UJ-22 drone.

According to BILD, it is not certain whether Putin’s visit was scheduled for Sunday or Monday. For example, trips by the Russian president are often announced a day earlier for security reasons. State journalist Pavel Zarubin said on Sunday morning that Putin “intended to visit an industrial estate in Moscow,” but did not provide further details. The lawn in front of the park is said to have been painted green “before the arrival of the president”.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the Russian head of state “has no public events planned.” “Putin is at work in the Kremlin,” he said.

It is possible that Russia wants to cover up the failed attempt on Putin’s life. After all, for Ukraine, the attempt was partially successful, as the drone was able to stay in the air all the way to Moscow. It is therefore possible that the country will try to carry out assassinations in the near future. A tweet from Romanenko seems to point in that direction. “Putin, we are getting closer,” the activist wrote.