Russia has accused Ukraine of striking the Kremlin residence of the country’s President Vladimir Putin with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) on Tuesday night.
A statement issued by Putin’s Kremlin Press Service on Wednesday said that the Kyiv regime aimed two UAVs at the Kremlin.
“As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the vehicles were put out of action,” stated Moscow.
Reportedly, this is the moment when a drone hit the Kremlin. pic.twitter.com/MiUob8fSV9
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 3, 2023
The fall of UAVs and the scattering of their fragments on the territory of the Kremlin however resulted in no victims or material damage.
“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9th Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned,” said the Kremlin.
Video of the second drone strike on the Kremlin
16 minutes elapsed between the strikes of the two UAVs. pic.twitter.com/kawTNtxPVx
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 3, 2023
It added that the “terrorist act” did not injure the President and his work schedule remains unchanged.
More significantly, the Putin government said that the “Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently visiting Finland to meet the Nordic leaders, denied the Russian claim of Kyiv’s assassination attempt on Putin.
“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow, we fight on our territory. We’re defending our villages and cities. We don’t have, you know, enough weapons for this. That’s why we don’t use it anywhere [else],” he was quoted as saying by the Finnish media in Helsinki.
Zelenskyy’s statement on the Russian drone attack accusations (via @svtnyheter):
“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow, we fight on our territory. We’re defending our villages and cities. We don’t have, you know, enough weapons for this. That’s why we don’t use it anywhere [else]” pic.twitter.com/fILacFaErj
— Minna Ålander 🌻 (@minna_alander) May 3, 2023
Zelensky also said that he is convinced that Ukraine will receive combat aircraft from partner countries after “successful offensive actions on the battlefield” against Russia.
“Why am I sure we will get aircraft? Because soon we will have offensive actions. And after them, I am sure we will be given aircraft,” said the President of Ukraine during a conversation with media representatives following a meeting with Finland President Sauli Niinisto.