What is this “drone attack” on the Kremlin?
In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, The Kremlin was the target of a “drone attack,” according to sources close to the Russian government. Moscow condemned an attempted assassination attempt by Ukrainians on President Vladimir Putin, which Kiev immediately denied. This Thursday, the Kremlin accuses Washington of being behind this alleged drone attack.
On Wednesday afternoon, Russia claimed in a statement that two drones tried to hit the Kremlin overnight and that it was an attack by Ukraine. The Kremlin said in its statement:
« Last night the Kiev regime tried to attack the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles ».
For Moscow, Ukraine would have tried to kill President Vladimir Putin:
« We regard these actions as attempted terrorist attacks and assassinations of the President. ».
And this Thursday above His spokesman, the Russian presidency, accused the US of being behind the alleged Ukrainian drone attack: “Decisions about such attacks are not made in Kiev, but in Washington.”
Videos were posted by some Russian media on social networks. Videos were shared in particular by the Russian press agency RIA Novosti on Telegram showing a drone approaching the Kremlin rooftops and then exploding, or even a plume of smoke rising over the Kremlin.
The attack would not have had any physical impact, nor would it have caused injury or property damage due to the destruction and proliferation of the drones involved. This was announced by the Russian news agency Tass. The Kremlin’s press release states: Due to timely actions by the military and special services using radar systems, the devices were taken out of service “. The press service of the head of state added: As a result of their fall and the scattering of fragments on the territory of the Kremlin, there were no casualties or material damage », Vladimir Poutine « continues to work as usual after the attack in kiev. ».
According to Russian news agencies, Vladimir Putin was not injured. And even according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the Russian head of state was not in the Kremlin at the time of the attack.
For his part after comments from the reportedAFPKyiv assured not to have « nothing to do with the drone attacks on the Kremlin “. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: We don’t have enough weapons for that “. The Ukrainian Presidency therefore denied any involvement in the attack and even accused Russia of being the culprit, using this situation as a pretext for a major terrorist attack in Ukraine.
The Institute for War Research (War Research Institute), published a press release on their website. He estimates that ” The drone attack on the Kremlin was prepared by Russia itself “, What ” Russia likely staged this attack to bring the war back to a Russian audience and set the conditions for broader social mobilization “. According to the institute The attack was carried out internally and deliberately staged “, that’s it ” It is extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defenses and exploded or been shot down directly over the heart of the Kremlin “. And to consider that too Russia staged the incident just before VE Day on May 9 to portray the war as existential to its domestic audience ».
Speaking on France Inter waves this morning, Thursday 4 May, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna pointed out that the drone attack on the Kremlin ” a strange episode », « mysterious ” and ” unexplained ». Add that ” The Ukrainians declared yesterday that they had nothing to do with this unexplained incident ‘ She further clarified: ‘ not have privileged information ” on the subject.
Although the origin of this attack has not yet been clearly identified, the Russian authorities reacted quickly by increasing security around the Kremlin and launching an investigation to identify those responsible. The Investigative Committee of Russia, which is responsible for investigating the most serious crimes, announced that it has opened a criminal investigation into a terrorist attack in connection with an attempted strike against the Russian President’s residence in the Kremlin.
This attack underscores growing concerns about the use of drones as a tool for terrorism and sabotage.
