'Have Right To Retaliate': Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Attempting To Assassinate President Putin

An attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin's life was allegedly made on Wednesday. Russia said that it was a terrorist act and it reserves the right to retaliate.

An assassination attempt was allegedly carried out on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Kremlin alleged Ukraine behind the attempt on Putin's life. "Ukraine tried to attack the Kremlin with drones. It is a terrorist act and we have the right to respond," news agency AP quoted a Kremlin statement.

The guardian, quoting Russian state news agency RIA, reported that two drones had been used by Ukraine in the alleged attack. According to the report, both the drones had been disabled by Russian defence officers. Moreover, Putin emerged unharmed in the attack nor did buildings in Kremlin suffer any damage, the report stated.

“The Kremlin has assessed these actions as a planned terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade,” the RIA was quoted by The guardian. “The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit,” the report read.

Reacting to the allegations, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "We didn't attack Putin." Ukraine issued a statement, saying: "Russia is preparing for a large-scale terrorist attack. Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation."

WORK AS USUAL FOR PUTIN

Despite the attack President Putin left his schedule unchanged and continued working as usual in Novo Ogaryovo, outside Moscow. Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin. The governor informed the President about the region's socio-economic development, as well as about investment and construction projects and the upgrade of transport infrastructure.

Last week there was allegedly another attempt on Russian President Putin's life, reported New York Times. The C-4 explosive-laden UJ-22 drone crashed before causing any damage. The drone was allegedly targeting the Rudnevo Industrial Park, which Putin was expected to visit.  

In 2022, Ukraine had claimed several attempts on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's life since the Russian invasion began on February 24. Kyiv had then said that it was preparing for operations after Zelenskyy's death as a threat loomed over his life. According to Ukraine, within just a month of the invasion four attempts were made to assassinate President Zelenskyy.

Last week, a drone attack triggered a massive fire at a fuel storage facility in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, news agency Reuters quoted the Moscow-installed governor as saying. No casualty has been reported.