The Russian presidential administration said Wednesday that the Kremlin was attacked by drones overnight in an attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s life.
Moscow residents had reported hearing two explosions behind Kremlin walls shortly after 2 a.m. local time, after which the lights went out. Footage shared by residents in a local Telegram channel captured the incident, as smoke was seen filling the sky above the Kremlin. Videos also appeared to show part of the Kremlin on fire.
Now, authorities say it was a brazen attack by Ukraine using two drones, both of which they say have been destroyed.
Astonishing footage of last night's drone attack on the Kremlin pic.twitter.com/3rghCHdIed
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 3, 2023
No injuries were reported, according to the TASSnews agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was not at the presidential residence at the time.
The Kremlin, describing the incident as a “planned terrorist attack” and “assassination attempt on the president of Russia,” is now threatening to take “retaliatory measures.”
A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied that the country was behind any attack on the Kremlin and accused Moscow of deliberately “escalating the situation ahead of May 9,” when Russia routinely flaunts its military prowess to mark Victory Day.
“Separately, the phrasing by the terrorist state is surprising. A terrorist attack is houses destroyed in Dnipro and Uman, or a rocket attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk, and many other tragedies,” Zelensky spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said.
The alleged assassination attempt comes after Russia’s pro-war hawks have spent months demanding the military unleash more brutal attacks against Ukraine, claiming military commanders have been held back from doing so.
Many Russian lawmakers on Wednesday seized on news of the incident at the Kremlin to re-up that demand.
“Terrorists have settled in Kyiv, and, as you know, negotiations with them are meaningless. They need only to be destroyed, quickly and mercilessly. It’s time to launch a missile attack on Zelensky’s residence in Kyiv,” United Russia lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet said in comments to Russian state media. “I’m ready to give the coordinates: 11 Bankova Street, where the so-called administration of the president of Ukraine is located.”
Kremlin propagandists also burst into hysterics, with Margarita Simonyan, the editor in chief of RT, suggesting on Telegram that the alleged attack is just the pretext Moscow needs to go scorched earth on Ukraine: “Maybe now it will start for real?”
It is unclear how a Ukrainian drone could have made it through Russia’s air defenses and into the heart of the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Wednesday banned drone flights in the city without a special government permit.
The incident comes just days before Russia’s main Victory Day parade on Red Square, an event that authorities reportedly fear could be disrupted by drone attacks. Independent Russian media reported last week that utility workers have been ordered to patrol the streets of Moscow in search of any bombs or drones ahead of the event.
