In the aftermath of the alleged attack on the Kremlin, there was an exchange of accusations between Moscow and Washington and drones were shot down in Kiev and Sevastopol. Zelensky took advantage of the visit to the Netherlands to push for air aid and the establishment of a war crimes tribunal.
The Kremlin spokesman raised his already high-pitched tone by dismissing the denials from the United States and Ukraine of involvement in what Moscow claimed was a drone attack on the Kremlin targeting Vladimir Putin’s residence, calling them “absolutely ridiculous.” . Dmitri Peskov added that decisions “on these terrorist attacks are not made in Kiev, but in Washington, and Kiev does as it is told.” He concluded, “Washington needs to understand clearly that we know this.”
On the American side, the answer was given by National Security spokesman John Kirby. “I can assure you that the US is not involved in this,” Kirby told the MSNBC channel, expressing doubts about the veracity of the alleged attack. “We still don’t know exactly what happened.” On the other hand, he stressed that Washington has been “clear” to Kiev in neither encouraging nor facilitating Ukrainians to carry out attacks outside their territory.
The flight of two drones towards the Kremlin in the early hours of the morning suggests that Ukraine (or some other actor) aimed to directly attack the Russian leader, who, moreover, is not in the habit of spending the night in the Moscow Palace . According to the Institute for the Study of War, thinktank what happened was probably staged by Russia to mobilize the domestic public.
The think tank said it was “extremely unlikely” that two drones from outside the country could have avoided detection and reached the Kremlin. In January, air defenses in the center of the Russian capital were bolstered after explosions at England’s air base and Ryazan airfield, both in the Russian countryside, apparently caused by drones.
At the end of the day, the capital’s air defenses shot down a drone. It was learned hours later that it was a Ukrainian Air Force Bayraktar TB-2 that was destroyed after losing control.
Hours earlier, a new wave of drones was stopped in Kiev and other targets across the country. The Ukrainian military said the words “for Moscow” and “for the Kremlin” were written on the tails of some of the drones shot down in the port city of Odessa.
In occupied Crimea, days after fuel tanks used to supply the Russian army burned down following a drone strike, another unmanned aerial vehicle was reportedly shot down near the Belbek military airfield in Sevastopol.
The recent attacks on fuel depots in Russian or Russian-occupied territory, according to the latest assessments by the intelligence services of the British Ministry of Defense, will force Moscow’s armed forces to make “adjustments” in their supply operations and resort to facilities moving away from the Ukrainian border and strengthening security in facilities that were found to be vulnerable.
Some analysts say the explosions that have taken place on the Russian side follow the pattern of ground preparation that Ukrainian forces did in Kherson, when they previously attacked the logistics chain and warehouses.
Together with the heads of government of the Netherlands and Belgium, the Ukrainian president said he believed in the “success” of the counter-offensive, although he later corrected that by saying that he could not promise “total success” and, above all, that the word was no longer correct.
“If you win, you still lose. Lose [humanas] are very painful for the country,” said Volodymyr Zelensky.
He took the opportunity to reinforce the idea that “it doesn’t make sense to postpone” the sending of Western fighter jets, such as the F-16, for which he received Mark Rutte’s solidarity. The Dutch prime minister said the subject “is not taboo” and that he is working “intensively” to reach a conclusion, as was previously reached with the Leopard tanks.
In Washington, while the Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov promised “harsh and inevitable punishment” for what happened in the Kremlin, the director of US intelligence questioned Russia’s military capability.
“Even if Ukraine’s counter-offensive is not entirely successful, it is unlikely that the Russians will be able to mount a major offensive operation this year.” Avril Haines
Heard by a Senate committee, Avril Haines said the Russians have “significant shortages” of ammunition and personnel to continue the invasion, but Putin will be unwilling to make concessions “unless internal political vulnerabilities change his thinking.”
Source: DN
