Moscow – Russia denounced yesterday that it frustrated an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with drones sent by Ukraine, a country that denied any involvement in that fact and, in turn, reported a “massive” Russian bombardment, with numerous victims, in the region of Kherson.
On Tuesday night, “the Kiev regime tried to hit the Kremlin” in the center of Moscow with two drones that were “out of service” thanks to “electronic warfare radar systems,” the Russian Presidency said yesterday.
“We consider such actions as an attempted terrorist action and an attempt on the life of the president,” the Kremlin added, adding that “Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it deems appropriate.”
In the midst of a tense climate, the president of the Duma -lower house of the Russian Parliament-, Vyacheslav Volodin, urged to “destroy the terrorist regime of kyiv”. And the former Russian president, the influential Dmitry Medvedev, called for the “physical removal” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The fear in the Ukrainian command is that Russia could launch a retaliatory action that effectively seeks to take the life of the president.
Zelenski, for his part, denied his country’s involvement in what would be the most spectacular of the attacks attributed to Kiev on Russian territory since the start of the intervention of Moscow troops in Ukraine, in February 2022.
“We have not attacked Putin; that will be a task for the courts. We are fighting on our territory, we are defending our towns and cities”, he declared at a press conference in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, after having participated in a summit with the leaders of five Nordic countries.
A video posted by some Russian media on social media shows a small drone approaching the Kremlin before exploding. In another footage, a column of smoke is seen above the building at night.
So far it has not been possible to verify these images with independent sources.
The Russian accusations come after several acts of sabotage and drone strikes in recent days against parts of Russia close to the Ukrainian border.
A widespread idea in Ukraine and the West is that a fall of Putin would unleash forces within the Russian regime that are averse to invasion and full confrontation with NATO and the West.
Some drones have crashed in recent months in the Moscow region, but this is the first time that a raid attributed to Ukraine has occurred in the heart of the Russian capital, located some 500 kilometers from the border with the former Soviet republic.
These attacks take place at a time when kyiv says it is finalizing preparations for a counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories in the east and south of the country.
extreme violence
At least 16 people died on Wednesday in Russian bombings described as “massive” in the Ukrainian region of Kherson and 12 of them in the city of the same name, the main city in the area, the local Prosecutor’s Office said. Another 22 people were injured in those attacks, it added.
Ukrainian authorities yesterday ordered a 58-hour curfew in Kherson starting Friday night to allow “law enforcement to do their job.”
The Kherson region is, according to analysts, one of the possible areas from which Ukrainian forces could launch their counteroffensive. The eponymous capital was recaptured by kyiv troops in November.
In Finland, Zelensky was optimistic about the upcoming war operations.
“I think this year will be decisive for us, for Europe, for Ukraine, decisive for victory” against Russia, he declared.
The European Union (EU) presented a plan worth 500 million euros (about 550 million dollars) to speed up the production of ammunition, in order to replenish its reserves and maintain aid to Ukraine.
Source: Ambito
