The air raid alarm went off in Kiev, where explosions were heard. ANSA can testify on the spot.
The US is behind the attack on the Kremlin with two drones sent from Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is convinced of this, quoted by the RIA Novosti agency, while the Foreign Ministry underlined in the aftermath of the attack that the "terrorist and sabotage activities of the Ukrainian armed forces in Russia are reaching an unprecedented level" .
The White House accused the Kremlin of "lying"
about an alleged role of Washington. Peskov then commented on the peace mission announced by the Holy See.
"We know that the Pope is constantly thinking about peace and how to end this conflict, but we are not aware of any detailed plan proposed by the Vatican."
"Dmitri Peskov's statements about US involvement in the Kremlin attack are lies. Plain and simple."
This was reiterated by the spokesman of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, in a briefing with the press.
Former Russian president and current number two on the Moscow Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, said that "it is precisely the escalation of the conflict" in Ukraine
"that will lead" the alleged drone attack against the Kremlin.
"This is exactly what Washington and many stupid people in Brussels want," Medvedev wrote
on Twitter, commenting on the words of EU High Representative
Josep Borrell,
who asked Russia "not to use this alleged attack as an excuse to continue the escalation Of the war".
For the raid Medvedev pointed the finger at Ukraine defining it "a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Kiev authorities, led by the US and approved by the EU leadership".
Russian forces launched airstrikes overnight on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities
, including Odessa, without causing casualties.
Explosions were also heard in Zaporizhzhia, while air raid alarms were sounded in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa regions and some areas of Kirovograd region. Russian attacks last night against Kiev did not result in victims or damages, the administration of the Ukrainian capital announced on Telegram.
For its part, the Army's Southern Operational Command said 15 drones were fired on Odessa, 12 of which were destroyed and three hit the dormitories of a school without causing injuries or casualties.
ANSA agency
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According to the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital
Sergiy Popko, "last night Kiev suffered the most intense Russian attack of 2023".
The General Staff, in the morning report published on Facebook, announced that the Russian army has launched 68 air strikes against Ukraine in the last 24 hours, 67 attacks with multiple rocket launchers, two missiles: there are wounded civilians, residential and infrastructure destroyed and damaged.
Targeted the northern, central and southern regions of Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian military, the likelihood of new attacks remains high.
"For Moscow"
and
"For the Kremlin"
: these are the words that can be read on the tail of two drones launched by the Russian army on Odessa last night, according to some photographs published on Facebook by the Southern Operational Command of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Two drones had tried to hit the residence of the Russian president in the Kremlin in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, but Moscow has said that the offensives launched in the last few hours are not in response to the alleged attack on the Russian capital.
"In Odessa at night the enemy attacked with 15 Shahed-131/136. Twelve were destroyed by the air defense" and "three hit the dormitories of an Odessa educational institution" but "no one was hurt," he wrote the command.
Moscow has promised that it will respond to the attack on the Kremlin when it deems it necessary
with the words of the Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, reports Tass.
"What would the Americans do - said the diplomat - if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon? The answer is obvious to anyone: the punishment would be harsh and inevitable. Russia will respond to this reckless act of terrorism and arrogant. He will answer when he deems it necessary. He will answer according to the assessments of the threat that Kiev has created for the leadership of our country".
Antonov also called the Washington officials' comments "astonishingly cynical and absurd."
Meanwhile,
the United States has warned American citizens
in Ukraine against an increased threat of Russian missile attacks on Kiev: the US Embassy in Kiev reports it on its website.
"In light of the recent upsurge in attacks in Ukraine and inflammatory rhetoric from Moscow, the State Department warns US citizens of the increased threat of rocket attacks, including in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast," the message read.
Drones over the Kremlin
The news of the attack on the Kremlin had been given by RIA Novosti and was immediately confirmed by the Kremlin, which announced retaliation.
"The foiled attack last night with two drones was a Ukrainian terrorist attempt on the life of President Vladimir Putin, who remained unharmed," the press service quoted by the agency said, adding that "Moscow will take retaliatory measures against Kiev ".
The
mayor of Moscow, Serghey Sobyanin, has ordered a ban on drones overflying the capital
after the shooting down of the two drones.
The spokesman of the Russian presidency,
Dmitri Peskov
, he then specified that Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time of the attack.
"After today's terrorist attack, there are no other options than the physical elimination of Zelensky. It is not even necessary to sign the act of unconditional surrender. Even Hitler, as you know, did not sign it."
This is the threat on Telegram that came from the deputy chairman of the Russian security council
Dmitri Medvedev.
Russia: 'Attempted attack on the Kremlin with drones'
But the denial had come from Kiev
: "Of course Ukraine has nothing to do with the drone attacks on the Kremlin".
This was stated by
Mykhailo Podolyak,
adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a message to journalists.
The same information was also reported by the spokesman Serghei Nikivorov quoted by the Ukrainian media.
“As far as the drones on the Kremlin are concerned, everything is predictable…
Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack
.”
Continue on Twitter Podolyak.
"Ukraine conducts an exclusively defensive war and does not attack
targets on the territory of the Russian Federation", because "it would not solve any military problems and would give Moscow reasons to justify its attacks on civilians". "Drones on energy facilities or the Kremlin can only indicate the guerrilla activities of local resistance forces ", he added.
“We are aware of the claims by the Russian authorities about the alleged drone strikes affecting the Kremlin and are trying to get more information about what really happened. The alleged drone strikes must not be used as a pretext for further escalation of Russia's continued aggression outside its borders".
So Peter Stano, spokesman for the external action service of the European Commission.
ANSA agency
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