Kremlin accuses Washington of directing alleged drone attack on Putin

KYIV, Ukraine – The Kremlin spokesman on Thursday accused the United States of ordering what Moscow alleges was an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin with two drones that were sent to attack the Russian president’s official residence.

“We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv, but in Washington, and Kyiv does what it is told,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said Peskov “is just lying.”

Kirby said that it was still not clear to Washington what had happened, but he bluntly rebutted Peskov’s claim. “I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this, whatever it was,” he said during an appearance on MSNBC. “We had nothing to do with this. Peskov is just lying there, pure and simple.”

Ukrainian officials have denied any role in the alleged attack. Some suggest Russia staged it to create a pretext for escalating its war.

Peskov called the U.S. and Ukrainian denials “absolutely ridiculous.”

“We know that often it is not even Kyiv that determines the targets, but Washington determines them and then brings them to Kyiv so that Kyiv implements them,” he said. “Whether or not to divide all of this by two is up to them, but Washington should know that we know this clearly.”

Putin was not in the Kremlin, a walled compound in the center of Moscow, at the time of the alleged strike on the Senate Palace, which contains his official residence.

Peskov said Putin was working there Thursday and protective measures, including air defenses, would be strengthened.

Peskov, asked why he had not mentioned the alleged attack during his briefing with reporters the day before, cited an “operational assessment.”

Moscow’s accusation against Washington came several hours after Russia launched a wave of self-destructing drones against Kyiv and the southern port city of Odessa overnight. Explosions rang out in the two cities.

Air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and across Ukraine at about 2:30 a.m. It was the third attack on the capital in four days, Serhiy Popko, head of the city military administration, said in a post on Telegram.

Of 24 drones launched by Russia, Ukraine’s air force said, 18 were shot down.

In Kyiv, Popko said, city air defenses shot down all drones. Debris fell on three districts in the city center, but no casualties were reported. In Odessa, Ukraine’s southern military command reported, air defenses shot down 12 of 15 drones. Three drones hit local dormitories, the command wrote on Facebook, causing fires but no injuries. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify Ukrainian officials’ statements.

The command posted alleged photos of fragments of the drones, with the messages “for the Kremlin” and “for Moscow” scrawled on them.

Russian officials said the Kremlin was attacked early Wednesday. Two drones were shot down without any casualties, they said.

Video footage showed one of the drones exploding and hitting the dome of the Senate Palace and another exploding just above it.

Russian officials called the assault “a planned terrorist attack” and said they reserved the right to respond “when and where” they chose.

Kirby, appearing Thursday on a broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said Washington was not involved. Ukrainian officials often complain that the United States has limited their ability to strike targets inside Russia by not providing more longer-range weapons.

“We certainly don’t dictate to them the terms by which they defend themselves, or the operations they conduct,” Kirby said. “However, we have been clear with them publicly, and we have been clear privately, we do not encourage nor do we enable them to strike outside Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands, part of a trip during which he meet on Wednesday with Northern European leaders in Finland.

In March, The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and another Russian official for the alleged abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children. At The Hague, Zelenskyy said the Russian leader “deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law,” the Associated Press reported. He repeated a call for a special independent tribunal to try Russian officials for the crime of aggression.

Zelenskyy said he was “sure” that Putin would stand trial after Ukraine wins its war with Russia.

Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, and the ICC does not try individuals in absentia.