Ukraine likely behind Kremlin drone attack, U.S. officials say: report
A drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month was apparently orchestrated by Ukraine, which has carried out several strikes. Russian targetsUS officials said.
Russia has claimed that Ukrainian forces attempted to kill President Vladimir Putin in a failed attack on May 3.
But two drones were used in the “assassination attempt”. Residence of the President Inside the Kremlin compound, Russia said, but Russian defense systems had disabled them.
Russia claims Putin was targeted in an attempted drone attack, as videos circulated online
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on May 3, 2023. A drone was reportedly shot down over the Kremlin. US officials say that the attack on the Kremlin was probably carried out by Ukraine. (AP/Ostorozhno Novosti)
One drone caught fire and the other exploded. They caused very little damage and no one was injured.
US intelligence agencies do not know which unit carried out the attack, and it was unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi or his top officials knew of the operation, the New York Times reported.
This attack has worried the United States. The Biden administration has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine’s forces, but fears that Russia could blame the United States and retaliate by expanding its war beyond Ukraine’s borders.
The United States intercepted Ukrainian communications in which officials said they believed their country was responsible for the operation without the oversight of senior officials, including Zelenskyi or his top deputies.
US officials believe the operation was likely carried out by one of Ukraine’s special military or intelligence units, the Times reported.
“We did not attack Putin,” Zelensky said after the attack.
He added that Ukraine fights within its borders and keeps its weapons for defense and not for attacks in Moscow.
However, intelligence experts disagree that Ukraine is capable of such an attack, and believe it could be a Russian flag-flag operation intended to cause Russia to escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine. Had to provide.
“I stand by my assessment that the drone attack — like the act of industrial sabotage targeting Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline — was a false flag operation orchestrated by Putin’s regime. is not capable of conducting such an operation without,” former Defense Intelligence Agency official Rebecca Koffler told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has warned Ukraine against launching attacks inside Russia for fear that Moscow could escalate the conflict, and the attacks themselves have not been very effective, despite Kiev’s deep penetration into Russia. The ability to penetrate up to is visible.
US officials have also publicly denied supporting the use of US military equipment for attacks outside Ukraine.
Click here to get the Fox News app.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president’s office, earlier dismissed the drone incident as a false flag intended to justify retaliation.
Podoliak wrote on social media, “Russia is clearly preparing for a massive terrorist attack. That’s why it first detained a large subversive group in Crimea. And then it ‘ ‘drones’ over the Kremlin.”