Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 3: Even as Ukraine denied any involvement in the drone attack on the Kremlin on Wednesday, Russia insisted it to be “planned terrorist action” by its adversary to kill president Vladimir Putin and warned that Moscow “reserved the right to retaliate” to justify a possible further escalation in the 14-month-long war with Ukraine.
Accusing Ukraine of attempting to kill Putin. Russia claimed it shot down two drones which were used in the alleged attack. Putin was not injured and there was no material damage to the Kremlin building, it said, adding it considered the alleged attack “a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was working at his residence near Moscow when drones were sent to attack the president.
“Two unmanned vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin… the devices were put out of action,” the Kremlin said in a statement. The Russian president was not on the premises at the time of the attempted drone attack, the Kremlin added. The remnants of the downed drones fell inside the Kremlin but did not injure anyone, the statement said.
Ukraine has said it has “nothing to do” with alleged Kremlin drone attack. “Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” presidential spokesman Mikhaylo Podolyak said. “Ukraine does not attack the Kremlin because, firstly, that does not solve any military aims.”
He suggested the attack was “staged” by Moscow. “Such staged reports by Russia should be considered solely as an attempt to prepare an information background for a large-scale terrorist attack on Ukraine,” Podolyak said.
An unverified video circulating on Russian social media including the channel of the military news outlet showed pale smoke rising behind the main Kremlin Palace in the walled citadel after the purported incident. Another showed one of the drones, right above the dome of the presidential palace, being shot down by Russia.
Moscow’s mayor has announced a ban on unauthorised drone flights over the Russian capital, just as the news of drones targeting Putin surfaced. In a statement, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said drone flights would be prohibited unless a special permit had been obtained from “government authorities”. He added that the ban was meant to prevent unauthorised drone flights that could “obstruct the work of law enforcement.”
But the Kremlin said the May 9 Victory Day parade would go ahead in Moscow despite the incident, official reports said. Victory Day is a key anniversary for Putin, who often evokes the spirit and sacrifice that helped the Soviet Union repel Hitler’s Nazis at a cost of some 27 million lives to boost patriotic sentiment. Earlier, the Kremlin said the Russian security services are working to ensure that Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade across Red Square on May 9 can go ahead safely despite the risk of a threat from Ukraine.
Russian energy, logistics and military facilities have been hit in drone and other attacks since Moscow launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Kyiv has not taken official responsibility for such attacks, but has often made cryptic or sarcastic comments welcoming them as it resists what it calls a Russian war of conquest.
Contesting Russia’s charges, Ukraine said it was readying for a major counter-offensive to push back Moscow’s forces over a year into their invasion. Podolyak said attacking the Kremlin would be “extremely disadvantageous from the point of view of preparing our offensive measures” and would only serve to “provoke Russia to even more radical actions”.
The alleged Kremlin targeting came after several days of apparent sabotage attacks in Russia. Kyiv has followed a line of not claiming responsibility for such attacks. “Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Podolyak said.
In possible signs that preparations by Ukraine are being stepped up, the frontline city of Kherson in southern Ukraine announced a long curfew for residents and sabotage acts behind Russian lines intensified. Kherson, which was re-taken by Ukrainian troops in November, will be under curfew from May 5 evening until May 8 morning.
Regional officials said this was “for law enforcement officers to do their job”, but similar long curfews have also been used in the past for troop and arms movements. “During these 58 hours, it is forbidden to move on the streets of the city. The city will also be closed for entry and exit,” the head of Kherson’s regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said. He advised residents to stock up on food and medicine and said people could go for short walks near their houses or visit shops but should carry identity documents with them at all times.
The curfew announcement came as officials said three people were killed and five injured in a Russian strike on Kherson’s only working hypermarket on Wednesday. Kherson was captured by Russian troops last year in the first days of the invasion and remained under Russian occupation until November 2022.
After a sustained campaign of sabotage attacks behind Russian lines, Russian forces withdrew from the city. They crossed to the eastern side of the Dnipro River which now delineates part of the front line in southern Ukraine. The curfew announcement came as officials in Russia said they were dealing with a major fire at a fuel depot close to the bridge to Russian-annexed Crimea — the second such incident in just a few days.