OAN Roy Francis
9:30 AM – Thursday, May 4, 2023
The Kremlin accused the United States of coordinating the drone attack on Moscow’s Kremlin citadel, which they claim was intended to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After initially accusing Ukraine of the drone attack, the Kremlin shifted the focus and accused Washington of being behind the attack, however they have provided no evidence alongside their accusation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov shifted the blame to Washington saying that the decisions for attacks like that “are not made in Kyiv but in Washington.”
“Attempts to disown this, both in Kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous,” Peskov said. “We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv but in Washington.”
Peskov went on to claim that the U.S. was “undoubtedly” behind the attack, and that Washington had chosen both the target and the means to conduct the attack.
“This is also often dictated from across the ocean,” he added. “In Washington they must clearly understand that we know this.”
The White House denied the claims made by the Kremlin. White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said that the claims made by Russia are false and that it is a “ludicrous claim.” He went on to say that the U.S. does not support or provide Ukraine with the means to strike targets outside its borders, adding that Peskov was “just lying.”
“I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States. Whatever it was, it didn’t involve us,” Kirby said on MSNBC. “We had nothing to do with it. Peskov is just lying there, pure and simple.”
Kirby went on to say that the U.S. does not dictate how Ukraine defends itself or encourage and enable Ukraine to conduct any strike within the Russian borders.
“We certainly don’t dictate the terms by which they defend themselves,” he said. “Or the operations they conduct.”
U.S. officials, who spoke under anonymity, have stated that the Biden administration still does not know who was behind the attack, and that they still have no theory or suspects. The White house is also unclear on how the drone attack will change the war and whether Russia will now escalate the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also denied the accusations by the Kremlin.
“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow,” Zelenskyy said during his trip to Finland on Wednesday. “We fight on our territory. We’re defending our villages and cities. We don’t have enough weapons for these.”
Zelenskyy went on to explain once again that they want to see Putin sentenced for his criminal actions which violated international law.
“We all want to see a different Vladimir here in The Hague,” Zelenskyy said. “The one who deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions right here, in the capital of international law. If we want true justice, we should not look for excuses and should not refer to the shortcomings of the current international law but make bold decisions that will correct that shortcomings that unfortunately exist in international law.”
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