DISINFO: The US is behind Kyiv’s drone attack on the Kremlin
SUMMARY
The US is behind Ukraine's drone attack on the Kremlin.
We know very well that decisions on similar actions and similar terrorist attacks are made not in Kyiv, but in Washington. And Kyiv does what it is told to do.
RESPONSE
Disinformation about the war in Ukraine, not backed by any evidence. Part of a wider disinformation campaign aiming to portray the US as responsible for the war in Ukraine, as well as presenting Ukraine as a US puppet.
The video of two drones, streaking across the night sky in Moscow, first appeared in the early hours of 3 May 2023 on Russian social media. The Kremlin released a statement calling it a “planned terrorist attack,” a deliberate attempt by Ukraine to assassinate Putin, but presented no evidence.
The Kremlin stressed that Putin was not assassinated, threatening that “Russia reserves the right to take countermeasures, wherever and whenever it deems appropriate.”
Ukraine denied involvement in the alleged strike."We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities," President Zelenskyy stated.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, reiterated the Ukrainian President's very clear statement that the Ukrainians were not involved in this attack.
The US dismissed the Kremlin's claims as 'ludicrous': "Obviously it's a ludicrous claim," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. The United States has nothing to do with it. We don't even know exactly what happened here, but I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautions that any claims by Moscow should be taken with a “large shaker of salt.”
At this time, it is difficult to verify who is behind these alleged attacks. Reuters checks on time and location indicated that the videos could be authentic, though some Western analysts said it was possible Russia might have staged the incident to pin the blame on Kyiv and justify some kind of response.
Nonetheless, while it is difficult to verify who is behind these alleged attacks, the narrative spread regarding this incident falls into the Kremlin’s wider narrative that Ukraine is a puppet of the US, and thus Russia is at war with the whole West, not just Ukraine.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EUvsDisinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.