MOSCOW: Moscow on Thursday accused the United States of having orchestrated a drone attack on the Kremlin, a charge denied by Washington, and said Ukrainian sabotage on Russian territory had reached “unprecedented momentum”.
Moscow said President Vladimir Putin was working from the Kremlin the day after the attack, which it said was a Ukrainian attempt to kill him.
“Decisions about such attacks are not made in kyiv, but in Washington,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“kyiv only does what it is told to do.”
“Washington should be clear that we know that,” he said.
Ukraine has denied responsibility, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying “We are not attacking Moscow or Putin”.
The United States has also denied any involvement.
“We had nothing to do with this,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told MSNBC. “Peskov is just lying there, plain and simple.”
Throughout its more than year-long offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained that kyiv was taking orders from the United States, accusing the West of waging a war against Russia by proxy.
The Kremlin attack came as Russia prepares to mark one of its major May 9 holidays – celebrating the Soviet victory over the Nazis – with a traditional military parade in Red Square.
It came after five days of seemingly extraordinary sabotage attacks, including trains derailed by explosions and massive fires in annexed Crimea.
But the Kremlin insisted on Thursday that the parade will take place, despite attacks in border regions and at the heart of Russian power, but under “tightened” security.
He added that Cheese fries does not provide “no address on this subject”.
Moscow, however, acknowledged that the country was facing an “unprecedented” wave of sabotage.
“The terrorist and sabotage activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are taking on an unprecedented scale,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Russia has opened a terrorist investigation into the attack in Moscow.
“What happened is thoroughly and operationally investigated, the (special services) are working on it,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov said.
“When to expect the results depends on them.”
Russia has not released official footage of the drone attack. Unverified footage on social media showed a drone hitting the Kremlin Senate building.
Peskov said “two copper sheets” on the dome of the 18th-century building were damaged by fire.
“They have been or will be replaced, everything will be like new. There is no other damage.”
On Thursday, Russia’s southern regions of Krasnodar and Rostov, both close to Ukraine, reported drone strikes that caused fires.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a drone strike set fire to a refinery.
Shortly after, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, which also borders Ukraine, said a drone hit a local refinery near the village of Kiselevka and caused an explosion and fire.
As Moscow accused the United States of planning the attack on the Kremlin, Ukrainian Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague.
He visited the International Criminal Court, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Putin for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
During a surprise visit to the Netherlands, Zelenskyy called for the creation of a special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its “crime of aggression”.
“There should be accountability for this crime. And that can only be enforced by the court,” he told diplomats and court officials.
On the day of the Kremlin attack, Ukraine said Russian shelling killed 21 people in the southern Kherson region, including a strike on a supermarket.
Zelenskyy is also due to meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
The Netherlands has pledged financial and military support to Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.
The country announced last month that it would buy 14 Leopard 2 tanks with Denmark to donate to kyiv, which is demanding more heavy weapons.
Ukraine’s air force said Thursday that Russia fired 24 attack drones overnight, 18 of which were shot down. Authorities said there were no casualties.
Sergiy Popko, the head of Kyiv City Military Administration, said that “all enemy missiles and drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed over Kyiv by air defense forces.”
Popko said it was the third day of attempted strikes on Kyiv in May.
“Our city has not seen such an intensity of strikes since the beginning of this year,” he said, adding that debris from downed drones had fallen on different parts of the city but there was no had no casualties.
Moscow said President Vladimir Putin was working from the Kremlin the day after the attack, which it said was a Ukrainian attempt to kill him.
“Decisions about such attacks are not made in kyiv, but in Washington,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“kyiv only does what it is told to do.”
“Washington should be clear that we know that,” he said.
Ukraine has denied responsibility, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying “We are not attacking Moscow or Putin”.
The United States has also denied any involvement.
“We had nothing to do with this,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told MSNBC. “Peskov is just lying there, plain and simple.”
Throughout its more than year-long offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained that kyiv was taking orders from the United States, accusing the West of waging a war against Russia by proxy.
The Kremlin attack came as Russia prepares to mark one of its major May 9 holidays – celebrating the Soviet victory over the Nazis – with a traditional military parade in Red Square.
It came after five days of seemingly extraordinary sabotage attacks, including trains derailed by explosions and massive fires in annexed Crimea.
But the Kremlin insisted on Thursday that the parade will take place, despite attacks in border regions and at the heart of Russian power, but under “tightened” security.
He added that Cheese fries does not provide “no address on this subject”.
Moscow, however, acknowledged that the country was facing an “unprecedented” wave of sabotage.
“The terrorist and sabotage activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are taking on an unprecedented scale,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Russia has opened a terrorist investigation into the attack in Moscow.
“What happened is thoroughly and operationally investigated, the (special services) are working on it,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov said.
“When to expect the results depends on them.”
Russia has not released official footage of the drone attack. Unverified footage on social media showed a drone hitting the Kremlin Senate building.
Peskov said “two copper sheets” on the dome of the 18th-century building were damaged by fire.
“They have been or will be replaced, everything will be like new. There is no other damage.”
On Thursday, Russia’s southern regions of Krasnodar and Rostov, both close to Ukraine, reported drone strikes that caused fires.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a drone strike set fire to a refinery.
Shortly after, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, which also borders Ukraine, said a drone hit a local refinery near the village of Kiselevka and caused an explosion and fire.
As Moscow accused the United States of planning the attack on the Kremlin, Ukrainian Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague.
He visited the International Criminal Court, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Putin for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
During a surprise visit to the Netherlands, Zelenskyy called for the creation of a special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its “crime of aggression”.
“There should be accountability for this crime. And that can only be enforced by the court,” he told diplomats and court officials.
On the day of the Kremlin attack, Ukraine said Russian shelling killed 21 people in the southern Kherson region, including a strike on a supermarket.
Zelenskyy is also due to meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
The Netherlands has pledged financial and military support to Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.
The country announced last month that it would buy 14 Leopard 2 tanks with Denmark to donate to kyiv, which is demanding more heavy weapons.
Ukraine’s air force said Thursday that Russia fired 24 attack drones overnight, 18 of which were shot down. Authorities said there were no casualties.
Sergiy Popko, the head of Kyiv City Military Administration, said that “all enemy missiles and drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed over Kyiv by air defense forces.”
Popko said it was the third day of attempted strikes on Kyiv in May.
“Our city has not seen such an intensity of strikes since the beginning of this year,” he said, adding that debris from downed drones had fallen on different parts of the city but there was no had no casualties.
