White House denies Russian accusations of ordering Kremlin drone attack

Moscow has sensationally accused the White House of ordering a hit on the Kremlin in an attempt to kill Vladimir Putin. Watch video.

The White House has denied responsibility for the drone attack on the Kremlin after being accused of guiding Ukraine on launching the assault.

“We had nothing to do with this,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, on MSNBC.

Russia’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that “decisions on such attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington,” adding that “Kyiv only does what it is told to do.

In response, Mr Kirby said “Peskov is just lying there, pure and simple”.

Russia alleges that Ukraine carried out a “terrorist attack” with two drones, aiming to kill President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv has denied the claim.

Throughout its more than year-long offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained that Kyiv is taking orders from Washington — accusing the West of leading a war against Russia by proxy.

Mr Kirby reiterated to CNN that Washington “had no role in it whatsoever,” and that the White House was still seeking clarification on the incident.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby denied Russian claims that the US was responsible for the drone attack. Picture: AFP

“We honestly just don’t know what happened here,” he said.

The the drone incident comes amid several other recent explosions and train derailments on Russian and occupied Ukrainian territory that Moscow has attributed to Ukraine.

Mr Kirby said that the White House does not support or condone attacks by Ukraine outside its borders.

“We’ve been clear with them publicly and we’ve been clear with them privately that we do not encourage nor do we enable them to strike outside Ukraine,” he said.

Asked if Washington viewed Mr Putin as a legitimate military target, Mr Kirby said: “We don’t favour — we don’t endorse strikes on individual leaders.”

Another Ukraine ally, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, warned Moscow “not to use this alleged attack as an excuse” to escalate the conflict.

The Kremlin attack came as Russia prepares to mark one of its main holidays of May 9 - celebrating the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II - with a traditional military parade on Red Square.

It came after five days of apparent sabotage attacks, including trains derailed by explosions and massive fires in annexed Crimea.

DRONE CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Russia says that Ukraine tried to assassinate Vladimir Putin – a claim rejected by Ukraine.

Moscow released unverified footage of the alleged hit showing two drones aimed at the Kremlin at night.

Kyiv quickly rejected the claim, with presidential spokesman Mikhaylo Podolyak saying:

“Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin. Ukraine does not attack the Kremlin because, firstly, that does not solve any military aims.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt, according to Russia. Picture: AFP

Mr Podolyak suggested the attack was “staged” by Moscow.

“Such staged reports by Russia should be considered solely as an attempt to prepare an information background for a large-scale terrorist attack on Ukraine.”

Mr Podolyak said attacking the Kremlin would be “extremely disadvantageous from the point of view of preparing our offensive measures” and would only serve to “provoke Russia to even more radical actions”.

⚡️ Last night, the Kiev regime attempted a drone strike against the residence of the President of the Russian Federation at the Kremlin.

We consider these actions a premeditated terrorist attack and an assassination attempt targeting the President

🔗 https://t.co/1X9cNdQDGkpic.twitter.com/lKK6GCxkNb

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) May 3, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later also addressed the claims and denied that his country was responsible for what Russia says was an assassination attempt against Mr Putin.

“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow,” Mr Zelenskyy said during a news conference in Helsinki.

He added that Ukraine didn’t have enough weapons to spare on such incidents.

“We fight on our territory, we are defending our villages and cities. We don’t have enough weapon[s] for this. That’s why we don’t use it anywhere [else],” Mr Zelenskyy continued. “For us that is the deficit, we can’t spend [waste] it.

“We didn’t attack Putin. We leave it to tribunal.”

Kyiv has said it is readying for a major counteroffensive to push back Moscow’s forces over a year into their invasion.

The alleged Kremlin targeting came after several days of apparent sabotage attacks in Russia.

Kyiv has followed a line of not claiming responsibility for such attacks.

“Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Mr Podolyak said.

People appear to be walking on the roof of the Kremlin in a video released by Russia that purports to show a drone strike on the building.

TINDER QUITS RUSSIA

The company behind dating app Tinder is leaving Russia, more than a year after the invasion of Ukraine saw a wave of international companies close or suspend their Russian operations.

Match Group said on Monday that it will quit Russia by June 30 because “we are committed to protecting human rights.”

The Texas-based firm made the disclosure in its annual impact report, a summary of how the company is meeting goals on the environment, human rights and good governance.

“Our brands are taking steps to restrict access to their services in Russia and will complete their withdrawal from the Russian market by June 30, 2023,” it said.

Most major Western companies have ended or suspended their operations in protest to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Chinese companies expand their presence.

And as it seeks to reduce its dependence on the west, Russia has been shoring up its domestic technology sector in recent years.

Tinder’s exit also comes when Russia has been strengthening laws to regulate the tech sector, against a backdrop of growing political repression.

The company behind dating app Tinder is leaving Russia. Picture: AFP.

VATICAN IN SECRET UKRAINE PEACE TALKS

The Vatican has launched a peace mission to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said.

The previously unreported involvement of the Holy See in discussions to end the conflict was revealed by the Pope himself after a three-day visit to Hungary.

“There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it,” the pope told reporters during a flight home, according to Reuters.

“I think that peace is always made by opening channels. You can never achieve peace through closure. … This is not easy.”

Pope Francis speaks to journalists during the flight from Budapest to Italy Picture: AFP

The Pope the Vatican was ready to repatriate the estimated 19,500 Ukrainian children taken to Russia once the conflict was over, adding that he had spoken to a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest about the plan.

“In these meetings we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood. We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace,” he said.

“The Holy See is willing to do this (help repatriate the children) because it is the right thing,” Francis said on the plane. “All human gestures help but gestures of cruelty don’t help. We have to do all that is humanly possible”.

Details of the peace mission come after the pope met with Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at the Vatican on Thursday to discuss a “peace formula” proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Pope Francis said the Vatican was in a secret peace mission to end the war in Ukraine. Picture: AFP

RUSSIA BRACES FOR COUNTER-ATTACK ‘TRAGEDY’

The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has warned that a Ukrainian counteroffensive could turn into a “tragedy” for Russia and complained that his fighters lacked ammunition.

For months Wagner has spearheaded the Russian attack on Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian town at the epicentre of fighting.

Mr Prigozhin is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin but as head of the private military group has been involved in a power struggle with Russia’s defence ministry.

“We (Wagner) have only 10-15 per cent of the shells that we need,” he said on Sunday, blaming the leadership of the Russian army.

He spoke in an interview to Russian pro-Kremlin war correspondent Semyon Pegov.

Mr Prigozhin said he expected a Ukrainian counter-attack in mid-May.

“This counteroffensive could become a tragedy for our country,” he said.

Ukraine recently revealed that it was finalising preparations for a long-expected counteroffensive.

On Sunday, the governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said Ukraine had shelled a border village, killing four people and wounding two others.

Villages in the Bryansk region along the border with Ukraine have reported several cases of shelling from the Ukrainian side since the conflict began. Picture: AFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously called those responsible for counter-attacks on the Bryansk region "neo-Nazis" and "terrorists". Picture: AFP.

The strike on the village of Suzemka, which lies a dozen kilometres from the Ukrainian border, came the night after a suspected drone hit a fuel depot in Moscow-annexed Crimea.

“Two more civilians have been found and removed from the rubble. Unfortunately, both of them died,” Alexander Bogomaz, the local governor, said on Telegram.

Mr Bogomaz initially said two people were killed when “the Ukrainian army shelled Suzemka.” Two other villagers were taken to hospital with injuries, the official said.

Mr Bogomaz said Ukrainian shelling hit the village twice overnight and that Russian air defence had “shot down several shells.”

He said one shell hit a residential house, sparking a fire, and that two more houses were damaged.

The village has declared a state of emergency, according to Mr Bogomaz.

“Work is continuing on the removal of rubble,” he added.

“In the areas where operational measures have been completed, a damage assessment commission has begun working.”

Russian villages in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions bordering Ukraine have been hit by a number of strikes since Moscow began an offensive into the neighbouring country.

– With AFP

Originally published as White House denies Russian accusations of ordering Kremlin drone attack