Two drones that targeted the Kremlin in Moscow were reportedly shot down, Russia said on Wednesday, denouncing an attempted assassination of Vladimir Putin. Accused, Ukraine has denied any responsibility in the incident.
“An attempt on the life of the president.” Russia said on Wednesday it shot down two drones launched at the Kremlin compound in Moscow overnight in an attempt to kill Vladimir Putin, days before military celebrations on May 9.
Spectacular videos, escalating tensions, Ukrainian denial… Here is what we know a few hours after this alleged attack on the heart of Russian power.
• Two drones in the heart of the Russian capital
In the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, the Kremlin issued a statement claiming that two Ukrainian drones attempted to strike during the night the Kremlin complex, the center of Russian power under the guard of the Federal Protection Service (FSO) which ensures the personal safety of Vladimir Putin.
“We consider these actions as an attempted terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the president,” the Kremlin said.
According to the presidency, the two aircraft were shot down using “electronic warfare radar systems”. “There were no casualties or damage caused by the fall and scattering of fragments” of drones on the Kremlin, according to this source.
Right from the Kremlin statement, a series of videos purporting to show the attack suddenly appeared on multiple Russian-speaking Telegram channels supporting the attack in Ukraine. One of these videos, the most spectacular, shows a flying machine exploding in a shower of flames above the dome of the Palace of the Senate, surmounted by a Russian flag, one of the main buildings in the compound of the Kremlin.
AFP was unable to confirm the veracity of these videos and Russian authorities have not commented on them at this stage. Late Wednesday afternoon, an AFP correspondent saw several people busying themselves on the dome of the Senate Palace, without visible traces, from the ground, of damage to the dome in question.
• Putin was not injured
In its statement, the Kremlin says the president was not injured. At the same time, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Russian media that Vladimir Putin was not there at the time of the attack.
According to Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin was working on Wednesday in his official and ultra-secure residence in Novo-Ogariovo, 25 kilometers west of Moscow.
The evening before, Vladimir Poutine was, officially, in displacement in Saint-Petersburg (north-west) where he met the director of the theater Mariinski, always according to the Russian presidency.
Moscow City Hall announced on Wednesday that it would ban drone flights over the Russian capital, unless authorized by the government.
In a new statement, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said drone flights would be banned unless special permission was obtained from “governmental authorities”. According to Sergei Sobyanin, this ban aims to prevent unauthorized drone flights which can “hinder the work of law enforcement”.
• Moscow accuses kyiv, which denies
Ukraine “has nothing to do” with the drone attack on the Kremlin, attributed by Moscow to kyiv, the Ukrainian presidency defended itself on Wednesday.
“We did not attack Putin. We leave him in court. We are fighting on our territory, we are defending our villages and our cities”, affirmed the Ukrainian head of state during a press conference in Helsinki with leaders from northern European countries.
“Of course Ukraine has nothing to do with the drone attacks on the Kremlin,” Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a message to reporters.
“Such remarks staged by Russia should only be considered as an attempt to prepare a context” that could serve as a pretext “for a major terrorist attack in Ukraine,” said Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
For him, such an attack, if carried out by Kiev – which would be a first since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 – “would not solve any military problem”, when Moscow still controls nearly 20% of the territory. Ukrainian.
“On the contrary, it would incite Russia to even more radical actions against our civilian population,” he argued on Wednesday.
According to this adviser to Volydymyr Zelensky, Moscow “is extremely afraid of the start of Ukraine’s offensives along the front line and is trying in any way to take the initiative, to divert attention”.
For his part, the speaker of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, called on him to “destroy” the Ukrainian government after this alleged attack.
Washington also reacted to this probable drone attack. The American diplomacy indicated to take with “great precaution” the information of the Kremlin.
• A context of increasing sabotage
This incident comes just a few days before the big military parade on May 9 celebrating the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. It is maintained, the Russian presidency said on Wednesday.
“The parade will take place. There are no changes to the program,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
For several days, Russia has been under pressure from a series of drone attacks, in particular against oil depots and two spectacular railway sabotages in a Russian region bordering Ukraine, while Kiev recently affirmed that its preparations for of a counter-offensive were coming to an end.
Monday and Tuesday, two Russian freight trains were indeed derailed after the deflagration of explosive devices, without anyone claiming sabotage.
