“Choices on such assaults are usually not made in Kyiv, however in Washington,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned.
“Kyiv solely does what it’s informed to do… Washington ought to perceive clearly that we all know this,” he mentioned.
Ukraine has denied accountability, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying “We don’t assault Moscow or Putin.”
America has additionally denied any involvement.
“Peskov is simply mendacity there, pure and easy,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White Home Nationwide Safety Council, mentioned on MSNBC.
All through its greater than year-long offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained that Kyiv is taking orders from the US — accusing the West of main a battle towards Russia by proxy.
One other Ukraine ally, EU international coverage chief Josep Borrell, warned Moscow “to not use this alleged assault as an excuse” to escalate the battle.
– ‘Unprecedented’ sabotage –
The Kremlin assault got here as Russia prepares to mark one in all its principal holidays on Might 9 — celebrating the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World Struggle II — with a conventional army parade in Pink Sq..
It got here after 5 days of obvious sabotage assaults, together with trains derailed by explosions and big fires in annexed Crimea.
On Thursday, Russia’s southern Krasnodar and Rostov areas, each close to Ukraine, reported drone strikes that induced fires.
And early Thursday night, Russia-installed authorities in Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, mentioned their forces had downed a drone close to an airbase within the area.
The Kremlin has insisted Moscow’s Might 9 parade will go forward regardless of the assaults in border areas and within the coronary heart of Russian energy, however below “strengthened” safety.
Russian tv on Thursday confirmed Putin within the Kremlin for the primary time because the drone assault.
The Russian chief doesn’t plan “any tackle on this matter”, mentioned his spokesman.
Moscow did nevertheless acknowledge that the nation was going through an “unprecedented” wave of sabotage.
Russia has opened a terrorism probe into the Moscow assault.
It has not launched official pictures of the assault. Unverified social media pictures confirmed a drone hitting the Kremlin Senate constructing.
Peskov mentioned “two copper sheets” on the dome of the 18th-century constructing had been broken by fireplace.
“They’ve been or will probably be changed, every thing will probably be like new. There is no such thing as a different harm.”
– ‘Felony actions’ –
As Moscow accused the US of planning the Kremlin assault, Ukraine’s Zelensky arrived on a shock go to to The Hague.
He visited the Worldwide Felony Court docket, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian kids.
“All of us need to see a special Vladimir right here,” Zelensky mentioned, referring to the Russian president, whom he believes “deserves to be sanctioned for his legal actions right here, within the capital of worldwide regulation”.
A particular tribunal ought to be created to carry Russia to account for its “crime of aggression”, he mentioned.
A mission of three consultants, established below the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), additionally mentioned Thursday that a whole bunch of hundreds of Ukrainian kids might have been transferred to Russia since 2015 after Moscow annexed Crimea.
“It appears there’s a plan to assimilate them (kids) on an enormous scale,” one of many consultants, Veronika Bilkova, informed reporters.
The Netherlands has pledged each monetary and army help to Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.
Zelensky, who additionally met Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, mentioned Ukraine was “real looking” that it could not have the ability to be part of NATO whereas nonetheless combating Russia.
“However we would like a really clear message that we are going to be in NATO after the battle,” he mentioned.
Putin has used Ukraine’s want to be part of the alliance to justify launching his offensive.
– Intense strikes –
After the Kremlin accused Kyiv of making an attempt to kill Putin, Ukrainian authorities mentioned they confronted a brand new wave of strikes in a single day.
The Ukrainian air drive mentioned Thursday that Russia had fired 24 assault drones in a single day, 18 of which had been downed. Authorities mentioned there have been no casualties.
Sergiy Popko, the top of Kyiv’s army administration, mentioned town “has not skilled such depth of strikes because the starting of this yr”.
Later Thursday, the Ukrainian air drive mentioned it downed its personal drone that had misplaced management over Kyiv at round 8:00 pm (1700 GMT). AFP journalists had heard explosions within the metropolis for about 15 to twenty minutes and noticed a drone that air defence tried to shoot down.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko mentioned firefighters had contained a hearth that broke out in a four-storey constructing.
AFP
