2023-05-04 06:12:11
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied Russian allegations of an attempted assassination of President Vladimir Putin. “We didn’t attack Putin or Moscow,” Zelenskyy told journalists in Helsinki on Wednesday. “We’re not attacking Putin, we’re leaving that to a tribunal.” Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to kill Putin with a drone strike.
Putin was unharmed and was not in the Kremlin at the time of the attack, the Russian Presidential Office said on Wednesday. “We consider this to be a planned terrorist attack and an attack on the President on the eve of the Victory Day Parade on May 9,” the Russian Presidential Office said. The Russian side reserves the right to respond with retaliatory measures where and when it deems appropriate, it said. “Two UAVs were aimed at the Kremlin,” the presidential office said. “Due to timely action by the military and special services using radar combat systems, the devices were rendered inoperable.”
The adviser to the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podoliak, had previously stressed that Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack. Such an approach would not benefit Ukraine on the battlefield and would only provoke Russia to take “more radical measures”. Russia’s statement could indicate that it is preparing for a major “terrorist” attack on Ukraine in the coming days.
According to Russian authorities, debris from the drones fell on the Kremlin premises. There were no casualties, and there was no damage to buildings. In a video shared on social media, faint plumes of smoke could be seen over the Kremlin. The authenticity of the video could not be confirmed at first.
According to the state news agency RIA, Putin carried out his official business on Wednesday at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside of Moscow. The Office of the President also announced that the military parade on May 9 in Moscow, to which foreign guests are also expected, will be held as planned. This day traditionally celebrates the victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany.
With regard to the authenticity of the information from Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that anything coming from the Kremlin should be treated with great caution. Asked whether the US would criticize Ukraine if the country decided to counterattack on Russian territory, Blinken replied that decisions about defending the country were entirely up to Ukraine. A US official, who declined to be named, said the information from Moscow was still being checked. “If there was something, then there was no warning.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than 14 months ago, there have been no similarly harsh allegations by Russia against Ukraine. Demands for speedy retaliation were immediately raised in Russia. The influential President of the Russian House of Commons, Vyacheslav Volodin, called for the use of “weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kiev terror regime”. Margarita Simonyan, head of the state television channel RT, wrote on Telegram: “Maybe it’s really starting now?”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for the “physical elimination” of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in response to the alleged Ukrainian drone attack. “After today’s act of terrorism, there is no other option than the physical elimination of Zelenskyy and his clique,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
In his eyes, Zelenskyy “is not needed to sign the capitulation of Ukraine,” Medvedev wrote. “As is well known, (Adolf) Hitler did not sign any (surrender) either.” There will certainly be a deputy in the Ukraine like Hitler’s brief successor, Admiral Karl Dönitz.
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