Russia is accusing Ukraine of launching a drone strike at the Kremlin in an attempt to kill President Vladimir Putin.
The drones were taken out of action by military and security services and Mr. Putin was not injured, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
Ukraine has not commented on the alleged attack, which could not be independently verified.
“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an attempt on the President,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Russia said drone fragments were found scattered along the grounds of the Kremlin after they were disabled by radar warfare systems. They noted that the drone strike was carried out ahead of the May 9 Victory Day parade that commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany.
“The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit,” officials in Moscow said in a statement.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russia used drones overnight to launch the third attack on Kyiv in the past six days. They said 21 of the 26 drones were shot down.
While targets in Kyiv were not damaged, Ukraine said a Russian attack on a supermarket in Kherson killed three people and injured five others.
“Since the liberation, the occupiers have been shelling Kherson on a daily basis, terrorizing the civilian population to exact revenge on them,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Helsinki for talks with the leaders of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark during the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin. The main topic of the discussion was maintaining a unified front against Russian aggression, Mr. Zelenskyy said.
“We also discussed the preparation of the next [European Union] sanctions package against Russia for the terror, as well as compliance with existing sanctions, which Russia is constantly trying to evade,” he said. “The harder we put pressure on the aggressor, the faster the aggression will end. I believe that this year will be decisive for our victory.”
Russia launched air-launched cruise missile strikes against Ukraine on April 28 and May 1. It was the first such attack since March 9. They were conducted by Russian long-range strategic bombers, British officials said Wednesday.
“Both strikes used smaller numbers of missiles than seen in previous attacks, which is likely due to Russian attempts to rebuild its [cruise missile] stockpiles,” U.K. military intelligence officials said in their latest assessment of the battlefield in Ukraine. “Both recent strikes were likely focused on Ukraine’s military, industrial, and logistical infrastructure.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.