Russia: "The US is behind the Kremlin Palace attack... Considering various retaliatory measures"

Russia, which claimed that Ukraine attacked the Kremlin with drones, has pointed to the United States as being behind the incident.

On the 4th (local time), according to TASS news agency and others, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated during a phone conference with reporters, "The United States is clearly behind the attack."

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia [Image source=Yonhap News]

He criticized, "We know that the decision for such terrorist acts is made not by Ukraine but by the United States, and Ukraine merely executes it. We also know that the United States often designates the targets. The United States must clearly understand that we are aware of this."

Following this, Peskov said that the relevant departments have begun investigating the incident.

However, he refrained from specifying what means would be used to retaliate against Ukraine and the United States. He said, "We are considering various options to respond to Ukraine's attack," adding, "(Russia) has the right to take retaliatory measures, and the response will include prudent and balanced actions that align with Russia's national interests."

Earlier, Russia announced on the 3rd that two attack drones attempted to strike the Moscow Kremlin presidential residence. Russia claimed that these drones belonged to Ukraine and that they carried out a planned terrorist act targeting President Vladimir Putin. Russia further stated that Ukraine's assassination attempt ended in failure and that no casualties occurred.

However, Ukraine strongly denied Russia's announcement. The Ukrainian presidential office told CNN, "We have no knowledge of Russia's claims, and Ukraine does not attack other countries but only uses all means to defend our territory."

Some quarters have suggested that Russia staged the incident. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense and foreign policy think tank, released a report on the same day analyzing that Russia likely orchestrated this attack to instill a justification for the war among its citizens.

The New York Times (NYT) also reported, "Current and former U.S. officials believe there is a possibility that Russia used a false flag operation," but added, "It is still too early to conclude, and U.S. intelligence agencies are assessing the situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.