Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting a drone strike on the Kremlin on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Russia would have disabled two drones with an electronic defense mechanism, the Kremlin said, which spoke of a planned “terrorist act” and an attempt on the life of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Video footage circulating on Russian social media shows two objects heading toward one of the highest peaks of the Kremlin’s buildings, where each explodes in a cloud of smoke. It is difficult to determine whether the images are real.
Ukraine has denied having anything to do with the attack, if any. “We are not attacking Putin or Moscow, we are fighting on our own territory,” President Zelensky said at a press conference in Finland. On Thursday he will visit the Netherlands, it was announced on Wednesday evening.
President Zelensky will visit the Netherlands this Thursday
It is quite possible that Russia has a so-called false flagoperation to legitimize further escalation of the war. Mychajlo Podoljak, a senior adviser to Zelensky, said in Kyiv on Wednesday that the accusation, added to reports that Russia had detained saboteurs in occupied Crimea, “clearly points to a large-scale terrorist provocation” to be expected “in the coming days.”
Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev said on social media on Wednesday that after the alleged drone attack, the Kremlin has no option but to “eliminate” Zelensky and his “clique” in Kyiv. Earlier in the day, the Kremlin had said it had the right to retaliate.
A spokesman for the White House in the US said on Wednesday that he could not verify the allegations by Moscow. She did announce that the US will provide Ukraine with additional US$300 million in military aid.
At least 21 dead in Kherson
Not long after the Kremlin accusation, air raid sirens went off in Ukraine on Wednesday. Throughout the day there were also Russian attacks on the Ukrainian region of Kherson. At least 21 civilians were killed, Ukrainian authorities said. 48 were also injured. “The world needs to see and know this,” President Zelensky wrote on Telegram over photos of victims. “A train station and a crossing, a house, a hardware store, a supermarket and a gas station. Do you know what unites these places? The bloody trail left by Russia.”
It is unclear whether the attacks are related to the alleged attack on the Kremlin. Russian troops regularly attack the city from occupied parts of the southern region.
It is the first time that Russia accuses Ukraine of an attack on Moscow. There has been speculation for some time about a possible attack by Ukraine on Russian territory. For example, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, General Kyrylo Budanov, said in January that more attacks will take place on Russian soil. On the American TV channel ABC News, he said that Ukrainian attacks will land “increasingly deeper” in Russia. According to Russia, Putin was not in the Kremlin during the alleged attack, but in Novo-Ogaryovo, an estate just outside Moscow.