The video isn’t completely convincing as a UAV drone appears to hit the Kremlin, but the claims by Russia are so damning and threatening, this seems to be a moment we should process with dread, because of what Russia may do next.
Russia which has made outlandish claims and false narratives in the past, now claims that two drones were flown by the Kyiv regime targeting President Putin himself inside the Kremlin.
One is seen hitting the dome of the Kremlin. Not much of an explosion but Russian press say the drones were electronically jammed.
Putin wasn’t hurt, as he was outside the Kremlin at his Moscow residence and was in no danger says the Russian press service.
And the Kremlin now says “it regards the incident as a premeditated terrorist attack and an assassination attempt on the Russian president. Russia retains the right to take retaliatory measures when and how it sees fit”.
As a reporter I have been inside that building many times, and it’s a maze of hallways and offices, that presumably one drone couldn’t possibly destroy.
Nor would one believe Putin was in the Kremlin residence, as he has largely been out of the Kremlin since the beginnings of the pandemic, and is even rumoured to have a mirror office in a bunker, that looks like his Kremlin office, but is a duplicate.
The so-called attack, comes just days before the May 9 WW2 Victory Day celebrations, on Red Square. These are celebrations the Kremlin has tried to throttle back on, because of the war in Ukraine, and possible threats to even the Russian airforce which isn’t scheduled to fly over Moscow.
Ukrainian presidential spokesman Sergey Nikiforov denied that Kyiv was involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin in a statement issued on Wednesday.
He said Ukraine has no information about the attacks on the Kremlin that took place in the early hours of Wednesday, claiming that the incident "is an escalation ahead of May 9 Victory Day celebrations”.
President Zelensky says “we didn’t attack Putin or Moscow” in a news conference, suggesting Russia was struggling to rally Russians in a lost war.
Of course claims and counter claims likely bring all of this to the same place - whether or not that attack was real, Russia will use it to do something severe to Ukraine, just as Kyiv is preparing a counter offensive in the occupied east.
Describing this attack as an attempt on Putin’s life, take us to a completely new level.
Russia looks extremely vulnerable at the moment if indeed this was a real drone strike.
Russia’s response is likely to be extraordinary, and one would imagine would focus on Kyiv, and the Ukrainian leadership, because that’s who the Kremlin says carried out this attack, real or otherwise.
Dana Lewis