The U.S. government has firmly denied Russia’s allegations that Washington orchestrated a drone attack on the Kremlin, with the White House calling Moscow’s claim a lie.
The situation remains unclear, and U.S. officials are still assessing the incident that Russia alleges was aimed at assassinating President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. calls Russia’s claims baseless
White House national security spokesman John Kirby dismissed Russia’s allegations as “ludicrous” and assured that the United States had no involvement in the event.
Speaking on CNN, Kirby stated that the U.S. does not encourage or enable Ukraine to launch strikes outside its borders and does not endorse attacks on individual leaders. Ukraine has also denied initiating any drone attacks on the Kremlin.
Though the exact details of what transpired at the Kremlin are yet unknown, Kirby emphasized that the United States is closely assessing the situation.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, accused the U.S. of being “undoubtedly” behind the alleged attack on May 4th, despite providing no evidence to support the claim. Kirby, in response, accused Peskov of lying and reiterated that Putin was the aggressor in Ukraine.
Ukraine conflict escalates
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, Kirby highlighted that Putin could end the conflict by withdrawing from the Ukrainian territory invaded in February 2022.
On the topic of NATO’s critical infrastructure systems, Kirby mentioned that he was unaware of any specific intelligence indicating that Russia was targeting them.
NATO’s intelligence chief warned on May 4th that Russia might sabotage undersea cables to punish Western nations for supporting Ukraine.
The alliance is increasing efforts to protect undersea infrastructure following the Nord Stream attacks in September. Kirby stated on CNN that the U.S. has been monitoring the situation closely since the beginning of the war.
During a visit to the Netherlands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a war tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its “crimes of aggression,” accusing it of committing 6,000 war crimes in April alone.
Zelensky also requested more military aid and modern aircraft to defend Ukraine against Russian forces. Meanwhile, drone and missile attacks have continued in Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia.
With the White House denying any involvement in the alleged Kremlin attack, Prof. Michael Clarke from the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) weighed in on the likelihood of Ukrainian involvement.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One program, Clarke expressed doubt that Ukraine would be responsible for the attack, calling such a move “monumentally stupid” and a surefire way to lose the war.
Clarke suggested that the incident might have been a false flag attack, something Russia has a history of orchestrating. However, he believes it is more probable that the attack was carried out by an independent “freelance” operative.
As the situation develops, the U.S. continues to monitor and assess the incident, maintaining that it played no role in the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin.
