Russia accuses Ukraine of assassination attempt

The Foreign Ministry of Russia has accused the Ukraine government of attempting an assassination of President Vladimir Putin by sending drones to bomb his residence in the Kremlin.

Russia capital survives pre-dawn attack

Reports came out of the region as early as 2 p.m. Moscow Time, give or take an hour, on various Telegram channels. Intel Republic had this report at 2:43 p.m. Moscow Time:

⚡️Kiev regime terrorists FAIL in attempt to strike Kremlin presidential residence with 2 kamikaze drones on night of May 3.

Swift action taken by armed forces and radar warfare systems put drones out of action, with no casualties or material damage to Kremlin.

Putin was unhurt in attack, with Moscow stating it was ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT on Putin and vowing to take any and all retaliatory measures it sees fit.

UPDATE: Putin was NOT in Kremlin at moment of attempted terror attack – Kremlin Spokesman Peskov.

Twenty-five minutes later came this report with an embedded animation. It claims to show a dome of the Kremlin on fire from the explosion of the drone. Seven minutes later came this message with more footage claiming to capture the moment of the explosion.

At 4:08 p.m. Moscow Time, Russia was claiming further attacks against the Sescha airfield in the Bryansk region.

The Intel Slava Z channel had a flurry of messages relating to the apparent Kremlin attack beginning at 3:57 p.m. Moscow Time. One of them gives the best detail so far:

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️ 16 minutes passed between the strikes of two UAVs on the Kremlin, TVC reports.

The first drone was spotted over the Kremlin at 2:27 am Moscow time. It exploded over the Senate Palace, after which a fire broke out on its roof. The impact of the second drone was recorded at 2:43 am. Its fragments fell on the territory of the Kremlin.

The times in that report correspond to 7:27 p.m. and 7:43 p.m. Eastern Time.

Russia has now declared Ukraine – or “the Kiev Regime” as they call it – a terrorist state. Two messages on Intel Slava Z carried messages from two Duma members making this point. In addition, the Russia Foreign Ministry issued this statement at 3:08 p.m. Moscow Time:

⚡️ Tonight, the Kiev regime attempted to strike the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles.

Two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were disabled.

As a result of their fall and the scattering of fragments on the territory of the Kremlin, there are no victims and material damage.

We regard these actions as a planned terrorist action and an attempt on the President, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the Parade on May 9, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned.

As a result of this terrorist act, the President was not injured. The schedule of its work has not changed, it continues as usual.

The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit.

The Hill carried this story at 8:42 a.m. Eastern Time. It repeated much of what Intel Republic and Intel Slava Z carried, and quoted briefly from the official statement. The American Journal carried this report, with this tweet:

Agence France-Press reported at 8:55 a.m. Eastern Time that Ukraine denies any involvement.

Any reason to doubt?

The outlet Defiant America had a different take, asking whether we were seeing a false-flag pseudo-operation. But tellingly, the Ukrainians point to unnamed terrorist groups and not a staging of the event by Russian military.

Aussie Cossack News released this YouTube video suggesting that Russia will now formally declare war against Ukraine.

Surely this is the last straw. Surely this is where there are no more chances, no more warnings, no more threats, no more polite warnings, as Russia usually gives Ukraine. Enough is enough. This is an attack on every single Russian, not only in Russia but everywhere. To see the Kremlin burning, this is the epitome of attacks.

The influencer went on to point out that no attacker has ever before scored a direct attack on the Kremlin.

Russia is preparing to celebrate Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9, 1945. This corresponds to Victory in Europe Day in the West, when the date was May 8. Russia insists that it will continue preparing for Victory Day celebrations, despite the attack.