Kiev denies drone attack on Kremlin to assassinate Putin

Ukraine on Wednesday rejected Moscow's accusation that it had attacked the Kremlin with drones with the intention of assassinating Russian President Vladimir Putin, and recalled that the purpose of Volodymir Zelenski is to "liberate his own territory", not "attack others". 

"We have no information about the alleged night-time attacks on the Kremlin," Ukrainian presidential adviser Myjailo Podolyak said on his Twitter account in response to Moscow's statement threatening retaliation for the alleged attack. 

The Ukrainian president "has repeatedly said that all forces and means at our disposal are aimed at liberating our territories, not at attacking others", the adviser's message continued, adding that he was "astonished" at the tone used by a "terrorist state", referring to Russia. 

Video of the alleged Kremlin drone attack pic.twitter.com/WgaBaIKPTy

— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) May 3, 2023

A terrorist act is "destroying homes in Dnipro and Uman" or "launching missile attacks on the Kramatorsk station", Podolyak asserts, citing three recent targets of Russian shelling with dozens of civilian casualties. 

The Kremlin denounced in a statement on its website that "the Kiev regime" had attempted to strike Putin's official residence with unmanned aerial vehicles. 

According to the Russian presidency, "two drones were aimed at the Kremlin” but were disabled by the Russian military and special service. 

The drones and their fragments fell into the Kremlin compound without causing any casualties or material damage, according to the statement issued by Moscow. 

The Russian presidency considers these actions to be "a planned terrorist attack" against Putin, perpetrated on the eve of Victory Day and the military parade on 9 May.