It all happened in the early hours of Wednesday when two flying objects were spotted and shot down near the Kremlin in Moscow. Russia says they were Drones Ukrainians were used in an attempt to kill Vladimir Putin, an event Ukraine denies responsibility for in an event whose definitions are still uncertain.
The press service of the Russian president accused Ukraine of carrying out a “planned terrorist attack and assassination attempt on the President of Russia”, which was prevented by the “correct functioning” of secret services.
On social networks, videos began to circulate showing the apparent approach of an object from the air to the Kremlin, an explosion on the dome and a column of smoke. In one of the pictures you can see the stands and scenery for the Victory Day celebrations, which are usually celebrated on May 9 with a military parade on Red Square.
“Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures whenever and wherever it deems appropriate,” the statement added. Shortly thereafter, according to several journalists in Kiev, anti-aircraft sirens began sounding in the Ukrainian capital, although no attack was recorded.
Ukraine has denied the Russian accusations through a top aide to Volodymyr Zelensky. In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter, Mykhailo Podoliak wrote that “Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack” and wanted to use Putin’s assassination attempt to “justify attacks against civilians.” “Ukraine is exclusively engaged in a defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the adviser added. The last part of this statement is questionable, given that in recent months there have been several explosions at Russian military bases and energy infrastructure, but this is no exception to the official line adopted by Kiev.
In the same text, Podoliak speculated that the alleged attack against Putin may be consistent with “guerrilla operations by local opposition forces” and that “the Putin clan’s loss of control over the country is apparent.” Also on Twitter, journalist Michael D. Weiss says that the incident was the work of fictitious Russian activists or dissidents “in the hands of Ukrainian secret services, not unrelated” and that Ukraine has resorted to these infiltrated supporters in other cases. On Russian territory.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, clarified that the president was not in the building at the time (it was almost 3 hours in Moscow) and that he was in a house outside the capital.
According to Financial Times, the Kremlin, the Defense Ministry, Putin’s home on the outskirts of Moscow and a ski resort on the Black Sea frequented by the Russian president are protected by anti-aircraft defense systems. A Ukrainian engineer asked by an English newspaper said, “It is not difficult to build drone At a range of 800 kilometers, it is difficult to define the target”.
Mark Galliotti, a security analyst at the British institute RUSI, commented on Twitter that several inconsistencies need to be clarified. Putin “rarely visits the Kremlin, let alone spends the night there, and has no early-morning agenda that would lead to the assumption that he was in his apartment there.” On the other hand, the Kremlin is “well protected,” writes Galiotti: “If we consider this a Ukrainian attack, it should be read as a performance attack, a demonstration of capabilities, a declaration of intentions: ‘Don’t think Moscow is safe.