Russia claims Ukraine attempted to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in an overnight drone strike that targeted the Kremlin.
Dramatic video footage shows the attack, which was described as an act of “terrorism.”
“Two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin,” the Russian government said on Wednesday morning, releasing a statement that they had fended off an attack against their leader.
Ukraine has not yet claimed the attack, while there is no solid evidence it occurred.
However, President Volodymyr Zelesnky’s chief of staff posted “fire emojis” to his personal Telegram channel not long after the news broke but later deleted them.
While the alleged attack’s details are unclear, Russia said there were no casualties or “material damage.”
As Breitbart notes, the President was not staying at the Kremlin last night and had not been harmed, and Russia released new photographs of Putin having meetings “outside of Moscow” Wednesday morning.
Russia said:
“Tonight, the Kyiv regime made an attempt to strike with unmanned aerial vehicles on the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation… two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were put out of action.”
Russia Today claimed the drones were brought down using Electronic Warfare equipment.
As the outlet continues:
The assertion that air defense systems at the Kremlin were successful in fending off the attack after several videos purporting to show the strike and its aftermath began to circulate on social media, and suggest it was a very close call for the Russians, with one drone apparently being intercepted right over the roof of one government building.
Only one of those videos appears to have been semi-officially acknowledged by the Russian government and shows a column of smoke rising above the Kremlin.
Others, including a major blast in the sky and a burning building, are also circulating but have not yet been acknowledged in the same way.
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The Kremlin said:
“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned.”
The Russian government added:
“We are, of course, aware that the Kyiv regime, which is behind a number of such attacks and terrorist acts, plans to continue this tactic… All our special services have been doing everything that is necessary to ensure security. Intensive and concerted work is underway.”
The Kremlin spokesman added that the invasion of Ukraine was continuing to “eliminate threats to our country.”
Russia also claimed that another Ukrainian drone strike against President Putin earlier this week.
Russia acknowledged that a Ukrainian drone “packed with explosives” had crash-landed on the outskirts of Moscow.
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