Russia is preparing for large-scale terrorist attack: Ukraine

KYIV: Following the overnight "drone attacks" on the Kremlin residence of President Vladimir Putin, the office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is preparing for a "large-scale terrorist attack."

Advisor to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, in a tweet, has said that the drone attacks on the Kremlin were not from Ukraine.

Russia on Wednesday alleged that there were attempts by Ukraine to assassinate President Putin and also called it a "terrorist attack." Russia also said that it has the "right to retaliate" in a manner, place and time of its choosing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not get injured in the overnight drone attacks, President's press service announced on Wednesday, Russia Today reported. Mykhailo Podolyak, in a tweet, said, "As for the drones over the Kremlin, it's all predictable....Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack. That's why it first detains a large allegedly subversive group in Crimea. And then it demonstrates "drones over the Kremlin". First of all, Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. What for? This does not solve any military issue. But it gives RF grounds to justify its attacks on civilians..."

Podolak also noted that Ukraine was monitoring the mishaps and incidents that were taking place in different parts of Russian Federation and also clarified that even though something was happening in RF but the drones did not belong to Ukraine.

He also tweeted, "Secondly, we are watching with interest the growing number of mishaps and incidents that are taking place in different parts of RF. The emergence of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities or on Kremlin's territory can only indicate the guerilla activities of local resistance forces. As you know, drones can be bought at any military store... The loss of power control over the country by Putin's clan is obvious. But on the other hand, Russia has repeatedly talked about its total control over the air. In a word, something is happening in RF, but definitely without Ukraine's drones over the Kremlin..."

On social media, several viral videos purportedly show a plummet of smoke rising against the night cityscape from the territory of the former Russian capital on Wednesday. The Kremlin press service also said, "Two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services using radar warfare systems, the devices were disabled."

According to Putin's staff, Ukraine launched two drone attacks overnight with the intention of hitting his apartment in the Kremlin. "The head of State was not in the Kremlin at the time of 'Ukrainian UAV attack' on Tuesday night," Kremlin's Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

He also said that President Putin is currently working from his residence near Moscow and that his schedule remains unchanged. The drones were destroyed using electronic warfare measures and caused no casualties or damage, the press service added.

According to a report in Russia Today, the message said, "As a result of this terrorist act, the President of the Russian Federation was not injured. His work schedule has not changed, it continues as usual."

The Kremlin also noted that the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures as it sees fit, reported Russia Today. Peskov added that the incident won't interfere with the Victory Day parade that is scheduled to take place on May 9 on Red Square.