Putin attacked – who did it?

Early yesterday morning (Moscow Time) – or in the early evening (Washington Time) – Vladimir Putin came under the most personal attack yet. Or so someone intended – apparently Putin was not at “Ground Zero,” or, as a Russian would call it, The Epicenter. This was not a nuclear attack, but it was an attack on the Kremlin – the first time anyone has gotten that close to damaging Moscow’s centuries-old fortress. This raises an immediate question: who did it? The Russians accused the Ukrainians, who in their view (and probably objectively) have the most obvious motive. But – laying aside any chance of a false-flag pseudo-operation – others have motives, too.

Details of the attempt against Putin

The Kremlin has residential quarters for the Russian head of state. Two drones successively blew up over the Kremlin in the pre-dawn hours – but Putin was not present, according to RIA Novosti.

Two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, evidently loaded with explosives, overflew the Kremlin early yesterday morning (Moscow Time). The Telegram channel Intel Slava Z had the best detail of any of the messages coming out of Russia:

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️ 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 Daylight Savings, or Washington, Time. Russia keeps Moscow Standard Time, which is three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (which usually is Greenwich Mean Time).

Exactly twelve hours after the attack, the Intel Republic channel carried this message:

⚡️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.

“Kiev regime” is Russia’s word for the current government of Ukraine. 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.

Russia vows retaliation

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.

This tweet carries the best embeddable footage available:

For what this is worth, Agence France-Presse reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, denied any involvement. Early yesterday evening, Dr. Steve Turley reported that Zelenskyy was in Finland at the time.

The banners reading 9 Maya are part of preparations in Russia to celebrate Victory Day. This is the anniversary of the final defeat of Germany during World War II.

An influencer calling himself Aussie Cossack flatly accused the Ukrainians and suggested Russia would now wage unlimited 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 Daily Beast can’t seem to decide whether to believe Russia this time or not. In fact this has happened before. The Daily Beast carried this report last week about an alleged attack on Putin with an exploding drone. But yesterday they were expressing doubts about the latest incident.

Three possibilities for Putin as target

So what happened in the “wee hours” of a Moscow morning? Three possibilities suggest themselves. First, the Russians laid on a false-flag pseudo-operation. The outlet Defiant America suggests precisely that. The main difficulty with that theory is the remarkable aplomb with which the Russians are taking this. Threatening retaliation? Oh, most certainly. But they are not simulating casualties, and some of their reports claim no damage to the Kremlin. In fact, every report coming out of Russia specifically denies any casualties from this incident.

Second, Ukraine did it, as the Russians are now accusing. But why do it when the head of state, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is out-of-country? Zero Hour is a strange time for the supreme commander to be absent. Besides, Volodymyr Zelensky has a nasty reputation but not one for suicidal zeal. He would know that he would only be inviting such an attack upon himself personally.

But one other person has a motive, and would not care who else would get hurt. That person is Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum. He regards Putin as his mortal enemy – precisely because Putin sees himself not only as a New Tsar of All the Russias, but also – and most provocative for a man like Schwab – as defender of the faith. Free Republic discloses another reason: Putin has long planned, with his allies in Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, to displace the globalists’ banking system.

The real reason the Ukraine conflict has lasted so long

On the other hand, remember why Russia attacked Ukraine to begin with – in addition to coming to the aid of Donbass residents when they asked him to. Putin knew about biological weapons development facilities in Ukraine, and had to destroy them.

If that were all there was to it, the conflict could be over by now. Yet the war continues. Is it due entirely to American insistence, and misplaced American idealism? Or, as some now charge, the Bidens acting like a crime family and carrying out a scheme for graft?

The Bidens might not be so smart. So we turn to Schwab – who, as CNAV has said before, looks and acts like a classic James Bond villain. All he needs is a white cat sitting on his lap, letting him stroke, stroke, stroke – while he calmly issues orders for a further escalation, perhaps as a deliberate act of provocation. Or as a Russian would call it, provokatsiya.