Russia Accuses Ukraine of Drone Attack on Kremlin, Zelensky Denies

Russia has said Ukraine attacked the Kremlin with drones overnight, accusing Kyiv of an assassination attempt on the life of President Putin.

"Today at night, the Kyiv regime attempted to strike the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles," the Kremlin said.

"We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation."

Footage circulating on social media shows a drone flying towards the Kremlin before exploding close to a rooftop.

Ukraine has denied involvement in the attack. President Zelensky on Wednesday evening said: "We didn't attack Putin... We fight on our territory, we are defending our villages and cities."

"We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We don't have enough weapons for this," he told reporters at a press conference with Nordic leaders in Helsinki.

Shortly after news of the attack broke, a high ranking Russian official demanded "the use of weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kyiv terrorist regime".

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma and Putin ally, added. "No negotiations can take place with the regime of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky."

Russia's ex-president Dmitry Medvedev later called for the "physical elimination" of Zelensky.

"After today's terrorist attack, there are no options left aside the physical elimination of Zelensky and his cabal," said Medvedev, who has been increasingly hawkish since Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

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South Korean military intelligence also suggests that the nuclear-armed North is “producing and providing self-destructible drones” to Russia to further aid Moscow’s fight against Ukraine.

According to the statement posted by the Russian President's administration, there were no injuries reported, and the attack had no impact on Putin's work schedule.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was working at his residence near Moscow on Wednesday and would still take part in a scheduled WWII Victory Day parade on Red Square next week as planned.

Moscow's mayor announced a ban on unauthorised drone flights over the Russian capital.

In a statement, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said drone flights would be prohibited unless a special permit had been obtained from "government authorities".

Authorities have tried to reassure Russians that the conflict is distant and does not pose a threat to Russian territory but a series of recent attacks are making this task increasingly more difficult. 

A recent report revealed one of the biggest fears among the Russian population currently is the fear of acts of sabotage on their own territory.

A Ukrainian military intelligence official told Kyiv Post today that this feeling will be justified until “Russian troops are withdrawn from Ukraine, war criminals are extradited, and Ukraine is compensated for the damage caused.”