Ukraine and Russia pressed their wartime rhetoric on Thursday, with the Kremlin alleging that the US was behind what it called an assassination attempt against the Russian president.
The latest flare-up came on Wednesday, with Russia’s claim that Ukraine had attacked the Kremlin in Moscow with drones meant to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied that Ukrainian forces were responsible.
The Kremlin promised unspecified retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act, and pro-Kremlin figures called for the assassinations of senior Ukrainian leaders.
zPhoto: AP
Uncertainty still surrounds exactly what happened in the purported attack.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday accused the US of involvement.
The Kremlin was “well aware that the decision on such actions and terrorist attacks is not made in Kyiv, but in Washington, and then Kyiv does what it’s told to do,” Peskov told reporters on a daily conference call.
US intelligence officials are still trying to determine who was behind the drone incident and are exploring various possibilities, including a “false flag” operation by Russia, or involvement by a fringe group with sympathies for Ukraine, a US official said on Thursday.
US intelligence officials do not have definitive answers, the official said on the condition of anonymity, adding that the Biden administration “certainly would not support the strike against Mr Putin.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Thursday said that Russia had “staged” the alleged drone attack. He cited the delay in Russian state media reporting it, and “simultaneous video from different angles” that appeared to show the aftermath of the alleged 2:30am attack.
Given recent Russian moves to bolster security, it’s “extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defense and detonated or been shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin in a way that provided spectacular imagery caught nicely on camera,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said.
On the battlefield, Kyiv, was the target of an air attack on Thursday morning, for the third time in four days, but defense systems intercepted all drones and missiles.
On Thursday night, air raid sirens sounded again. After the all-clear was given, the Ukrainian military said it had taken down one of its own drones that had “lost control” over the capital.
People sheltered in underground tunnels beneath Kyiv’s Maidan Square as air raid sirens wailed. Two defensive missiles streaked across the evening sky, and a loud explosion was heard. No casualties were reported.
In Russia, drones hit two oil facilities in southern regions of the country near Ukraine in what appeared to be a series of attacks on fuel depots behind enemy lines, Russian media reported.
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