(Reuters) -Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attacking the Kremlin with drones overnight in a failed bid to kill President Vladimir Putin, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
The Kremlin said it considered the attack to be a “planned terrorist action” and reserved the right to retaliate, RIA reported.
It said two drones had been used in the alleged attack on Putin’s residence in the Kremlin citadel, but had been disabled by Russian defenses.
Putin was not injured, and there was no material damage to the Kremlin buildings, the Kremlin said.
“The Kremlin has assessed these actions as a planned terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade,” RIA said.
It said Putin had not changed his schedule and was working as usual.
“The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit,” it said.
A senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Wednesday that Kyiv had nothing to do with any drone attack on the Kremlin and that such actions achieved nothing for Kyiv on the battlefield and would only provoke Russia to take more radical action.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in comments sent to Reuters that the allegation that Kyiv was behind the attack, and Russia’s arrest of alleged Ukrainian saboteurs, could indicate Moscow was preparing for a large-scale “terrorist” attack against Ukraine in coming days.
An unverified video circulating on Russian social media including the channel of the military news outlet Zvezda showed pale smoke rising behind the main Kremlin Palace in the walled citadel after the purported incident.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
