Key Points
- Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to kill President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zekenskiy said his country had nothing to do with the reported incident.
Russia has accused Ukraine of a failed attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack on the Kremlin citadel in Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zekenskyy said his country had nothing to do with the reported incident.
"We don't attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory," Mr Zelenskyy told a press conference during a visit to Finland, alluding to .
A senior aide to Mr Zelenskyy called the accusation a sign that the Kremlin was planning a major new attack on Ukraine.
Shortly after the Kremlin announcement, Ukraine reported alerts for air strikes over the capital Kyiv and other cities.
Russia said that two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin.
"As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were put out of action," a Kremlin statement said.
"We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the president's life, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the 9 May Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned."
Fragments of drones were scattered in the Kremlin grounds but there were no injuries or damage, it said.
Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Vladimir Putin. Source: AAP / Alexander Demianchuk/TASS/Sipa USA
The RIA news agency said he had not been in the Kremlin at the time, and was working on Wednesday at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow.
"The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit," the Kremlin added.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said the incident "leaves us no option but to physically eliminate Mr Zelenskyy and his clique".
Two of the numerous videos published on Russian social media channels show two objects flying on the same trajectory toward one of the highest points in the Kremlin complex, the dome of the Senate.
The first seemed to be destroyed with little more than a puff of smoke, the second appeared to leave blazing wreckage on the dome.
Reuters could not independently verify the videos.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the drone accusation, along with an announcement that Russia had caught suspected saboteurs in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea region, "clearly indicates the preparation of a large-scale terrorist provocation by Russia in the coming days".
