Moscow claims that Vladimir Putin was absent from the scene and kyiv denies any responsibility in this incident.
Russia claimed on Wednesday, May 3, to have shot down two drones launched against the Kremlin compound in Moscow during the night with the aim of killing Vladimir Putin, a few days before the military celebrations of May 9. Here is what we know, for the time being, of this alleged attack on the heart of Russian power, denied by Kiev, and which is taking place in the midst of a multiplication of attacks and sabotage in Russia.
An attack that occurred during the night
Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Moscow issued a statement claiming that two Ukrainian drones attempted to strike the Kremlin complex during the night. “We consider these actions an attempted terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the president”, interprets the Kremlin. According to the presidency, the two aircraft were shot down thanks to “electronic warfare radar systems”.
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A series of videos purporting to show the attack suddenly appeared on Russian-speaking Telegram channels supporting the attack in Ukraine. One of them, the most spectacular, shows a flying machine exploding in a shower of flames above the dome of the Palace of the Senate, one of the main buildings within the walls of the Kremlin. It is impossible to confirm, at this stage, the veracity of these videos and the Russian authorities have not commented on them.
On Wednesday evening, Russia announced the opening of a terrorism investigation.
Vladimir Putin absent from the premises
The Kremlin also maintains that the president was not injured. His spokesman told Russian media that Vladimir Putin was not there at the time of the attack. According to the Russian presidency, the head of state was in his official residence in Novo-Ogariovo, 25 kilometers west of Moscow.
The evening before, Vladimir Putin was officially on the move in Saint Petersburg, where he met the director of the Mariinsky theater, according to this same source. The Kremlin also pointed out that the attack did “no casualties or damage caused by falling and scattering fragments” downed drones.
Kyiv denies any involvement
Very quickly, the Ukrainian presidency declared that it had no “nothing to see” with this alleged attack, even accusing Russia of a “staging”. “Such staged remarks by Russia should only be seen as an attempt” to find a pretext for “a major terrorist attack in Ukraine”, reacted an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky. For him, such an attack, if carried out by kyiv, “would not solve any military problem”when Moscow still controls nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory.
“We did not attack Putin”insisted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a press conference in Helsinki (Finland), where he made a surprise visit. “We don’t have enough weapons for that”he justified, assuring that his country did not strike outside its territory.
Several Russian leaders have clearly accused Ukraine, and threatened reprisals. The Speaker of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, called for “destroy” the Ukrainian government. “After today’s terrorist attack, there is no alternative but the physical elimination of Zelensky and his clique,” wrote on Telegram Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and current number two of the Russian Security Council, accustomed to vitriolic statements.
A tense context for Moscow
The attack comes as Russia is under pressure from a string of drone attacks over the past five days, including against oil depots and two spectacular railway sabotages in a Russian region bordering Ukraine.
These incidents occur a few days before the celebrations, on May 9, of the 1945 victory against Nazi Germany, an essential date in the political agenda of the Kremlin, which arises as a successor to the power of the USSR. The spokesman for the Russian presidency assured that the large military parade in Red Square, which adjoins the Kremlin, will be held as planned, despite this alleged drone attack.