Podolyak said 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.
“Of course, Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin. We do not attack the Kremlin because, first of all, it does not resolve any military tasks,” Podolyak said.
Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s law enforcement agencies, posted a video showing a flying object approaching the dome of the Kremlin Senate building overlooking Red Square and exploding in an intense burst of light just before reaching it. Reuters could not immediately verify the video’s authenticity.
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The statement from the presidential administration said fragments of the drones had been scattered on the territory of the Kremlin complex, but there were no casualties or material damage.
RIA news agency said Putin had not been in the Kremlin at the time, and was working on Wednesday at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow.
Another video circulating on Russian social media appeared to show a plume of smoke over the Kremlin after the alleged attack.
The video was posted in the early hours of Wednesday on a group for residents of a neighbourhood that faces the Kremlin across the Mosvka River. It was picked up by Russian media, including the Telegram channel of the military news outlet Zvezda.
Victory Day is a major public holiday commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, and a chance for Putin to rally Russians behind what he calls his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russia marks the occasion with a huge military parade on Red Square, for which seating has already been erected.
The state news agency TASS said the parade – for which the Kremlin last week announced tighter security – would still go ahead.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said earlier on Wednesday that the city had introduced an immediate ban on unauthorised drone flights.
Russia has accused Ukraine of numerous cross-border attacks since the start of the war, including strikes in December on an air base deep inside Russian territory that houses strategic bomber planes equipped to carry nuclear weapons. In February, a drone crashed in Kolomna, about 110 kilometres from the centre of Moscow.
Ukraine typically declines to claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or Russian-annexed Crimea, though Kyiv officials have frequently celebrated such attacks with cryptic or mocking remarks.
Reuters
