Russia accuses US of being behind Ukrainian attack on Kremlin
Russia claimed on Thursday that the United States was behind an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin which it says was a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.
The indictment, made without citing evidence, comes less than 24 hours after Moscow said it foiled a nighttime drone strike on the building that acts as the heart of the country’s government and Putin’s residence – something Kiev has firmly denied. denied.
Three US officials, speaking to NBC News on Wednesday, said the United States had no prior knowledge of an attack.
But on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov went further, saying Washington orchestrated the incident.
“We are well aware that decisions regarding such a level of terrorist attacks are not made in Kiev, but in Washington,” he said during his daily briefing with reporters. “kyiv only does what it is told to do.”
Peskov dismissed US and Ukrainian attempts to “deny” the drone incident as “absolutely ridiculous”.
A Russian investigation into the incident is ongoing, he said, adding that there are “several response options” the country could take, without specifying which ones. The Russian Security Council, chaired by Putin, is due to meet on Friday.
“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.
“We are fighting in our own territory, defending our villages and towns,” he told a news conference in Finland. “We don’t even have enough weapons for that. That’s why we don’t use them elsewhere. We have a deficit. We cannot use everything and everywhere.
Russia has frequently accused the United States of making key decisions for Ukraine during the war. Putin, his officials and state media have repeatedly declared that Russia is at war with the entire NATO alliance. NATO’s expansion in Central and Eastern Europe was one of the pretexts for the Russian invasion.
The United States gave Ukraine more than $77 billion in military and humanitarian aid, but sought to ensure that its weapons would not be used in attacks on Russian soil.
Washington announced $2.6 billion in additional funding on Wednesday, including $500 million for battlefield weapons such as artillery, tank ammunition, mortars, rockets and tankers.
The news comes ahead of an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive which will see kyiv’s army attempt to seize lands captured by Russian forces.
A spate of recent incidents has seen explosions hit sites inside both countries as both sides appeared to set the stage for the fight to come.
This is a developing story. Please check back here for updates.