The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on Wednesday for what it describes as a “terrorist attack” with drones against the Kremlin and for which the Russian Presidency blames Ukraine.
“The main investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia has initiated a criminal case (…) related to an attempted attack on the residence of the President of Russia in the Kremlin,” the state body said in a statement.
Russia today accused Ukraine of having attacked the Kremlin with two ‘drones’ and of the attempted assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which kyiv categorically rejected.
“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow, we are only fighting on our territory, we are defending our towns and cities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted in Helsinki at a joint press conference with the leaders of Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.
“We did not attack Putin, we leave that in the hands of a court,” insisted the Ukrainian head of state, referring to Kiev’s efforts for the international community to find mechanisms to prosecute the Russian president for military aggression against Ukraine.
The Kremlin warned that Russia “reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it deems appropriate.”
Various voices in Moscow’s political spheres have argued that the Russian response cannot consist solely of criminal prosecution within what is considered routine procedure.
Senior Russian officials, including Duma (Lower House) Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev urged Putin to act decisively by using weapons capable of destroying the Russian authorities. Kiev or the “physical elimination” of the Ukrainian leader.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.6 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 8,709 dead civilians and 14,666 wounded, stressing that these figures are far from the real ones.
Source: TSF
