Ukraine denies Russian claim Kyiv sent drones to hit Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti that Putin was at his Novo-Ogaryovo estate outside Moscow.

Russia claimed a nighttime Kremlin attack but provided no evidence. Why did the Kremlin reveal the incident hours later and why did footage appear so late?

A Moscow news Telegram channel shared a video overnight showing smoke rising over the buildings from across the river from the Kremlin. It was unprovable. Text accompanying the clip states that neighbouring apartment occupants heard bangs and saw smoke around 2:30 a.m.

The Kremlin stated Russian military and security forces stopped the drones from striking. It said nobody was wounded.
The Kremlin website stated drone debris crashed on the Moscow monument without damage.

On an unannounced visit to Helsinki for talks with five Nordic leaders, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied involvement in the attack.

“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We quarrel at home. “We’re defending our villages and cities,” he stated.

Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak claimed the accusations would allow Russia “to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities” in the coming days.

An anonymous U.S. official said the Pentagon is investigating the claimed strikes.

According to a U.S. official, American intelligence authorities were investigating the Russian claims but had not yet decided. The official discussed the assessment anonymously.

At a World Press Freedom Day event in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had seen the reports but “can’t in any way validate them. No idea.”

He said, “I would take anything from the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt. Let’s see. We’ll see the facts, and it’s hard to speculate without knowing them.”

Ukraine would escalate the 14-month battle by targeting Russian power with the drone attack.

“It certainly wasn’t an attempt to assassinate Putin, because he doesn’t sleep in the roof and he probably never sleeps in the Kremlin,” said St. Andrews strategic studies professor Phillips O’Brien.

It was too early to determine if it was a Russian attempt “either to make Ukraine look reckless or to buck up Russian public opinion” or a Ukrainian operation to embarrass Russia.

Pro-Kremlin figures in Russia called for killings of Ukrainian officials after the purported attack.

The Kremlin said the incident was meant to disrupt Victory Day, which Russia commemorates on Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany. Peskov indicated the parade would go on.

Before the alleged attack, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin banned drone use, except for government-launched drones.

Sobyanin stated simply that the prohibition would prevent the “illegal use of drones that can hinder the work of law enforcement.”

Zelenskyy was in Finland to buy more ammunition for his army as they try to expel Russian troops from Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told a Helsinki news conference before Russia’s drone attack that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is “very soon.”“This year will be decisive… for victory,” he stated.

Since February 2022, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland have supported Kyiv. As the battle enters its 15th month, Nordic authorities were ready to send further aid before meeting with Zelenskyy in Helsinki.

“There is still an urgent need for military support to ensure that the Ukrainians stand as strong as possible in the fight against Russia,” Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen said.

Another summit guest, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, said, “Here in the north, we have a more unpredictable and aggressive Russian neighbor, and it is important that we discuss together how to face this new situation.”

The meetings came a day after U.S. officials indicated Washington will deliver Ukraine $300 million in military supplies, including millions of artillery rounds, howitzers, air-to-ground missiles, and ammunition.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the help has not yet been revealed, said the weapons will be removed from Pentagon stores and sent to the front lines swiftly.

Russia’s third attack on Ukraine’s capital city in six days employed Iranian drones.

The Ukrainian Air Force Command says 21 Russian drones were shot down overnight, causing explosions in Kyiv and elsewhere. No injuries or damage occurred.

Local officials reported a large oil store fire in Russia Wednesday.

Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev of southern Krasnodar, east of the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula, said the depot caught fire.

He didn’t specify what started the hard-to-put-out fire. Some Russian media outlets suggested a Ukrainian drone attack overnight caused it. That possibility was unconfirmed.

Russian news portal Baza reported that residents heard an explosion before the fire started.

Military analysts believe Ukraine is targeting Russian rear supply lines to prepare for a counteroffensive when weather improves and it receives substantial supplies of weaponry and ammunition from its Western partners.

In recent days, explosions wrecked a Russian freight train and hit an airbase. A Russia-appointed official said two Ukrainian drones hit a Crimean oil station last weekend, causing a large fire.

Kyiv military authorities said Russian forces are targeting Ukrainian logistics routes and centers with long-range strikes in anticipation of a counteroffensive.

Before Friday’s talks, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russia would continue talks with the UN and other parties to a wartime agreement on Black Sea agricultural shipments.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced a new round of U.N.-Russian negotiations on market access for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers in Moscow.

The July pact, repeated twice, enabled Ukrainian grain exports in blockaded ports last year. Unless Russia renews, the deal expires May 18.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, three persons killed and five were wounded when the lone operational supermarket in Kherson, southern Ukraine, was attacked approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Kherson Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin announced a 24-hour curfew from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

“No one can move or stay on the city streets for 58 hours. “The city will be closed for entry and exit,” he stated.

“So that law enforcement officers can do their job and not put you in danger,” he stated in a social media video.

After a winter of long-range shelling and missile strikes, Russia and Ukraine claimed ammo shortages. As officials consider when and how to expel Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, Ukraine has been pressing its allies for more.